Broken Pieces
by theflyinfoote
Summary: After the fall of Voldemort Harry finds himself on the outs with most of his old friends. A familiar face from the past enters and will help him put his life back together. The basic premises is partially inspired by Jeconais's work which was a wonderful read.
1. The Bottom of a Glass

A/N Welcome to Broken Pieces, for those of you who voted on the story poll I thank you all for your input. I decided to do two out of three and hold off on the third until I finish the Hufflepuff Cornicles. Thank you for all who left a review and their thoughts and I hope you all enjoy this story. For the most part, I am going to leave it up to your imagination for the French accent as I would probably butcher it. The only concession I've made is the dropping of the h. Like always, any character or place you recognize belongs to JK Rowling and not me and I make no money doing any of this. So without further ado, enjoy the story. Also lots of thanks to my wonderful BETA Matt2Parker for helping me make this more presentable.

Ch. 1 Bottom of a Glass

Harry Potter regarded the small glass in front of him with bloodshot eyes. He had lost count of how many shots he had taken in the last hour, but he knew that it must have been quite a few since the world seemed to not want to stop spinning. Reaching forward, he picked up the shot and threw it back, drinking the fiery drink in one gulp. He shook his head and raised a shaky arm to the bar keep, asking for one more before letting his arm fall to the bar and his head fall on top of it.

Through the haze of his mind he could hear the door open and turned his head, regarding the new arrival into the dingy back alley bar that he had found a few months ago. The new arrival seemed almost familiar to Harry. It was a girl in her late teens, of an age with him, with long, silver, blonde hair. The hair was all that Harry could clearly discern though as his eyes refused to focus enough to pick out any details. But for some reason, he felt drawn to this girl, like he had known her in another life a long time ago. He shook his head and looked dumbly around the bar for his new drink. This girl brought back memories, and Harry was here trying to get rid of memories. He looked again for the bartender to ask where his new drink was, but he appeared to be busy talking with the girl.

-(=)-

Gabrielle Delacour stood in the doorway and looked around the dimly lit dive bar she had found herself in. She had tracked her prey for the better part of the day now, and he had led her here. As her eyes roamed around the dimly lit place, they fell on a familiar tuft of black hair, which was on top of a head lying on top of the bar. She saw a pair of blood shot emerald eyes peek from under the hair, and she thought she saw a flicker of recognition before they returned to their drunken haze.

Giving her head a little shake she made her way up to the bar and got the attention of the barman. "How much has he had to drink?" she asked nodding towards the black haired man.

"A lot, I was actually about to cut him off." He replied.

Gabrielle sighed quietly to herself. "Does he come here often?"

The barman nodded. "He's in here at least three times a week. He drinks himself blind and then I call him a cab. He never causes any trouble and always pays off his tab. He only speaks to order another drink or mumble nonsense. I wish all drunks were as good as him."

Gabrielle nodded and thanked the barman. She reached into her purse and pulled out a roll of bills, paid for Harry's tab, then returned the roll to her purse. She made her way over to the almost passed out man. He looked up at her when she approached and the light of recognition appeared in his bloodshot eyes again before they glazed over once more.

"Come on Harry, it's time to go home." She said as she gently took his arm.

"Don't wanna go" Harry slurred.

"Your family misses you Harry, and want you to come home" she persisted.

"No they don't." Harry continued to slur, with a hint of bitterness entering his voice. To Gabrielle's surprise though, he did get up from the stool and stumbled trying to keep his feet. She held firmly to his arm and tried to steady him as he leaned heavily into her. "First family die cus stupid old man wanted to play god, second family beat me and hated me. Third family only cared as long as I dated their cheating slut of a daughter. Can't even see my godson now."

Gabrielle was shocked. She knew that Harry had had a hard life, and that the fallout from his breakup with Ginny caused some problems, but she hadn't realized it had been that bad, or what caused the breakup. She decided that she needed some answers, but now was not the time. "You still have family Harry; Bill and my sister miss you coming around for dinner."

Harry nodded, a small smile coming to his lips. "Vicky calls me Unca Harry" he slurred. "Cute kid takes after her mother, thank the gods." Gabby nodded and started to lead him to the door, still holding his arm. When they made it outside, she directed him to a small alley and, once out of sight, tightened her grip and apparated the two to Shell Cottage.

-(=)-

Gabrielle popped back into existence on the small garden path outside of her sister and brother-in-laws home. Harry was still beside her, but now he was leaning heavily into her, and she was supporting a large portion of his weight. "Stupid apparition." Harry slurred. "I'm going to lay down here until the world stops spinning." Harry pushed himself off of her and proceeded to lie down in the middle of the path. A few seconds later, he was curled in a little ball and passed out. Gabrielle let out a tired sigh and pulled out her wand. After a quick swish and a flick, Harry was floating in front of her as she walked up the path to the house that Harry had not even noticed before falling asleep.

When she entered the house she was met by the owners. "You found him" said her relieved older sister. "Where did you find him?"

"Let's get him to bed and then we can get to explanations." Gabrielle told her.

"I'll take him to the guest room." Bill said taking over the hover charm.

"I'll put the kettle on" Fleur said and made her way to the kitchen. Gabrielle smirked at how British her sister had become in the three years since she'd been married.

Gabrielle made her way into the sitting room and took a seat on the couch, letting out a tired sigh. Her sister came in a few minutes later carrying a tea service. She handed her sister a cup and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"How are you my sister?" asked Fleur, switching to French.

"Confused and angry" she replied, but before any more could be said, Bill came back into the room, took some tea, and sat in a large winged arm chair.

"So," Gabrielle began, trying to hold in her anger. "Would someone like to tell me why I found my Harry drinking himself stupid in a dive bar?"

Bill and Fleur exchanged worried looks. Bill let out a tired sigh. "I guess we should probably start at the beginning; or at least the end of the war. We don't really know anything from before then. Two years ago when the war ended, everyone tried to rebuild and get on with their lives. Harry and Ginny started dating again and got engaged about six months later. Ron and Hermione also got engaged and married shortly before that. We all thought things were getting better. Harry and Ginny seemed so much in love."

Bill paused taking a sip of his tea. "I think the first blow came when Harry first tried to see his godson Teddy Lupin. Apparently, with the war going on, Remus was never able to file the official papers making Harry his godfather, and Andromeda flat out refused to let Harry anywhere near Teddy. Personally, I think she was still grieving from losing both her husband and her daughter, and was scared that Harry was going to take away the last family she had. I'm not sure what all was said, but I gather it was pretty bad, as Harry seemed to fall into a depression."

"We had him start coming over during the day for tea" Fleur said, picking up the story. "Bill started teaching him about runes and wards while I taught him French. He didn't seem to quite know what to do with himself anymore. Everyone expected him to join the Aurors, including his then fiancé, but he refused."

Gabby scoffed. "Well of course he didn't want to be an Auror. He had been fighting a war almost single handedly for the last seven years. Can you blame him for not wanting to continue fighting?"

"Oui," Fleur agreed. "That's why Bill started teaching him about runes and wards. When Bill told Harry about his time as a curse breaker, he seemed excited. Anyways, as you know, we soon had Victoria and Harry doted on her. He would watch her while we were at work, or anytime we needed some alone time. Sometimes Ginny would come too, when she wasn't at Quidditch Practice, but as time went by we saw less and less of her. We didn't think anything of it though, as she was busy and Harry never said anything was wrong. By this time, it was a year after the war ended; Ron and Hermione were married, and Ginny and Harry were engaged. We thought things were going well."

"So what happened?"

Bill took over for his wife at this point. "About six months ago, Harry was watching little Victoria while Fleur and I were at work. Harry was staying with us, as Ginny was supposed to be away for Quidditch. I got home early and Harry said he needed to run back to Grimmauld Place, where he and Ginny lived, for a fresh pair of pants as Vicky spit up on the pair he was wearing. When he returned it was midnight and he was piss drunk. He apparated right into the living room and when I came down to investigate he was babbling about coming home and finding his fiancé not only home, but in bed with Malfoy, looking to be having the time of their lives. He slurred out that they hadn't even noticed him standing in the doorway, and that he had apparated straight to a bar and drank himself stupid."

Gabby's scowl matched her sisters. "That little slut had been sleeping around on Harry for a while apparently" Fleur said, and Bill completely ignored the slight on his sister. "She was cut from the Harpies after her first season and never told the rest of the family. I guess that explains why she never wanted anyone to come to her games that year. The next morning when Harry awoke, he went back to Grimmauld Place and kicked her to the curb along with all her stuff. Of course, the little slag went crying home to maman and somehow placed all the blame on Harry. I still don't know how she managed that, but Molly never would hear anything bad about her little girl."

"Harry became persona non grata at the Burrow." Bill said sadly. "Ginny even went to the press and did a smear campaign against him, putting the blame on him spending so much time watching someone else's child and refusing to find a job. Rita had a field day for months, going so far as to suggest that little Victoria was a love child between him and Fleur. I think the straw that finally broke the camel's back was when Ron and Hermione took Ginny's side. I don't think Hermione believed Ginny, but Ron refused to believe that his baby sister would sleep with a Malfoy, and Hermione felt she had to support her husband; so she too stopped talking to Harry. In the end, only George and I still talk to Harry, when we can find him and he isn't drowning himself in a muggle bar. I think dad believes him also, but Dad never would go against mum and, well, Ginny is his little girl."

"So that's it." Fleur said sadly. "For the last four months or so Harry has gone from muggle bar to muggle bar, unable to step foot in any wizard place without being mobbed, drinking himself stupid. Whenever we can track him down, we make him stay with us for a few days, before he feels like he is being a burden and leaves in the night again."

Gabby felt tears roll down her cheeks at all Harry had gone through. If she had known things had gotten so bad for him she would have come to England sooner. As it was, she had had to wait until she had finished school and gone through her final Change. Now that both those had happened, she was ready to come and fight for her love, her mate.

-{}-

Harry woke up with a splitting headache. You would think with the amount of time he had spent hung over during the past few months he would have gotten used to it, but unfortunately it never got any better. For probably the millionth time he wondered why he did this to himself, and then the memories returned. Andromeda blaming him for the death of her daughter, son-in-law, and husband, and refusing to let him anywhere near Teddy; Ginny cheating on him in their own bed, in his house, with Malfoy; Molly yelling at him and blaming him for Ginny's cheating, Ron punching him, and Hermione telling him she believed him but she had to support her husband, and wouldn't be able to see him for a while.

That memory had hurt the most, and was what finally drove him to try and drown himself in alcohol. Even when everyone else was against him, he had always had Hermione. Now though she refused to see him, and wouldn't even answer his letters. He didn't really care about what the press said, as he was used to the slander and the sheep reading it like gospel; but with Hermione refusing to even talk to him, something inside him seemed to just break. He hadn't felt this bad since his days alone in the cupboard, crying himself to sleep after a fresh beating from Vernon.

Opening his eyes, he quickly shut them again, as the light flooding into the room only increased the pain in his head. While letting his head settle again, he came to the realization that he was lying in a comfortable bed. Opening his eyes again, he looked around the blurry room. The blurs looked somewhat familiar and he reached his hand out to what he hoped was a night stand that held his glasses on it. Finding them, he slipped them on his face and took stock of where he was. Pushing back the floral duvet, he sat up and looked around the now clear room. He spotted a familiar potion vial sitting on the nightstand, also with a small note saying "Drink Me", and he drank it down in one gulp. Slowly his headache faded away and he could think clearly again.

The cream painted walls and the beach wood furniture that surrounded him told him where he was without having to look outside the window at the sea, only a few yards away. "Ok Harry," he said to himself. "How did you get to Shell Cottage?" He tried to think back to the night before, but all he could remember was flashes of silver hair, a pleasant pulling feeling, and going to sleep outside. Deciding that Fleur must have finally tracked him down again, he crawled out of bed and stumbled over to the wardrobe. Glad to see some of his clothes inside, he dressed and cautiously walked down stairs.

Harry hated waking up from one of his benders in the rooms kept for him in Bill and Fleur's house or in George's flat. On one hand he felt guilty for making them worry and go out of their way to find him, when deep down he knew he wasn't worth the trouble. He also knew that he shouldn't drink the way he did and should try to deal with his problems in a better way, but he was having trouble seeing why; and when he was passed out from drinking, he didn't have to suffer the nightmares.

When Harry walked into the kitchen he saw a tiny, silver blond haired toddler sitting in a high chair eating breakfast. The small child noticed him and let out an excited squeal. "Unca Harry!" Victoria lifted her arms, indicating what she wanted, and as any person who was wrapped around a small toddler's finger would do, Harry quickly picked her up.

"Good morning Tory, how is my favorite girl this morning?" Harry asked bouncing the small two year old in the air as she laughed.

"I ate pancakes" the little girl said, showing Harry her sticky syrup covered hands.

"Yes, and your hands are still all sticky" said a French accented voice from behind Harry. He turned around and saw a familiar looking woman standing in the kitchen entrance holding a wet flannel.

Harry smiled unknowingly at the woman standing in front of him, and Gabrielle could see some light return to his dull green eyes. She gave him a beautiful smile and walked up, taking the small girls hands and wiping them down with the wet flannel. "You don't want to get Uncle Harry all sticky also do you Tory?"

"Nuh-uh Auntie Gabby" the girl replied as her hands were cleaned.

"Hi Gabrielle," Harry greeted still smiling. "It's good to see you again. I don't think I've seen you since Bill and Fleur's wedding." If he remembered correctly, she looked a lot younger then. He could have sworn she was in her early teens during the wedding, but now she looked closer to his age. He couldn't help but think of how beautiful she had become, or notice the way her blue eyes sparkled and the light reflected of her silver hair. Harry's face began to flush as he realized what he was thinking, and he dropped his eyes to the small ball of energy squirming in his arms, not noticing the small smile that appeared on Gabby's face as she guessed what he was thinking.

"It's good to see you again too 'Arry. 'Ow have you been?" Gabby asked with a concerned voice.

"Fine" Harry replied still not meeting her eyes.

Gabrielle raised a silver eye brow at his answer. "Fine? Then why was it I found you in a muggle dive bar, drinking yourself stupid?"

Harry winced. "That was you?" Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously trying to think of how to answer her. He tried to think of a reasonable excuse, but his mind kept coming up blank.

Deciding that she wasn't going to get an answer now, Gabrielle decided on a different tactic. "How about we go give the little princess to her maman, and then we can go take a walk along the beach."

Harry wanted to object, saying that he should be on his way; but looking at the smiling, hopeful face of Gabrielle, he simply nodded. They found Fleur in the study and left Victoria in a small play pen. "Bon Jour 'arry" the older veela greeted, giving Harry a warm smile. "Like always, I am glad that you are here and we will talk later." She kissed him on both cheeks before repeating the process with her sister, but not before whispering something into her ear and giving her a smile Harry could only call hopeful.

The two turned and left the office and went out the back door. Harry made his way over to a small patch of raised earth with a headstone facing the water. As Harry stood there, paying his respects to Dobby, he felt a small hand slip into his. Looking down in surprise he saw Gabrielle standing next to him, her eyes full of support and comfort. She gave his hand another squeeze, and together they made their way down the dirt path to the beach.


	2. A Walk on the Beach

A/N Thanks again to Matt2Parker for his BETA work

Ch. 2 A Walk on the Beach

Gabrielle relished in the contact from the hand held in hers. It had been so long since she had seen him, and even then she hadn't had the chance to talk to him very much. The two walked down the path towards the beach both lost in their own thoughts, and when they reached the gently frothing surf, Gabrielle toed off her sandals in order to feel the sand between her toes. She saw Harry smile beside her and do the same with his shoes.

"So," Harry began uncertainly as they continued down the beach. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you look a bit older than the last time I saw you. I could have sworn that you were in your early teens at Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"It's okay 'arry" Gabrielle said, smiling and squeezing his hand again. "You're right, it's a Veela thing. It is sort of a defense mechanism that all Veela go through. As Veela grow we go through three 'phases' so to speak. We stay in our child form until our powers begin to stabilize; as when the Veela Allure first manifests, it is easier to control while still in our child form. When you rescued me from the lake my Veela Allure had only just begun to manifest. I was twelve then, even though I looked eight. A year later when my Allure stabilized, I matured into a more teenage form like you saw at the wedding. On or around our seventeenth birthday we go through our final maturation, and come into our full heritage and age like any other witch, only at a much slower rate. You remember meeting my maman at Bill and Fleur's wedding?" Harry nodded indicating he did. "My parents are both fifty even though she looks to still be in her early thirties. I only went through my final maturation about two weeks ago, after I finished school at Beauxbatons."

Gabrielle saw Harry nod in understanding, some of the uncertainty leaving his face. "And this?" he held up their hands indicating what he was talking about. Gabrielle refused to blush or look away.

"That is a little more complicated." She nibbled on her bottom lip as she tried to think of the best way to tell him. "When you rescued me from the lake, I sort of bonded with you, but since it was before I went through any of my maturation phases, it didn't really do anything."

"But you weren't really in any danger. Dumbledore said you all would be fine." Gabrielle didn't miss the bitterness Harry said Dumbledore's name with.

"That might have been true for the others but I am Veela and a creature of Air and Fire. If I had spent much longer at the bottom of an ice cold lake in February, it would have stunted my magic or even killed me. So you see Harry, you did save me." Gabrielle smiled at Harry and squeezed his hand.

"Ok" Harry slowly said, drawing the k out. "So does this bond mean that we have to get married or we would go insane or die?"

Gabrielle giggled. "Of course not silly, no bond can force you to love someone or kill you. No, this just creates a bond that has the potential to turn into something better. I'm sure you can feel the pleasant feeling caused by us holding hands. Both my parents and my Grandparents share this bond, and Fleur and Bill are also developing theirs. Usually it takes time for something like this to form, but when you rescued me, it sort of jumpstarted the bond." Gabrielle smiled at him, proud of her self at knowing the muggle term and using it correctly.

"So why did ours form so quickly?" Harry asked.

"I think the reason is due to the circumstances of the bond forming. Both of us believed that I was in mortal peril, and you saved me. Usually this isn't enough to form the bond, but something inside of both of us recognized the possibility of something great, and connected."

"So what do we need to do?"

"We don't NEED to do anything, as nothing is written in stone. For instance, if either of us found someone we loved and wanted to get married, then the bond would simply dissolve and no harm would come to either of us." Gabrielle felt her face heat up and she looked down at her sand covered feet. "What I would like is to at least be your friend, and see if maybe we could maybe be something more in time" she said quietly, trying to not let her nervousness take over. She looked up and saw the uncertain look on Harry's face and moved on quickly, trying to stem his worries. "I know you've been hurt Harry, and it might be a while, but I would at least like to be your friend." Gabrielle squeezed his hand hopefully.

Harry looked down at his own feet and Gabrielle could tell that he was thinking hard. "I don't know Gabrielle. I'm not a very good friend right now; I'm pretty messed up and I don't know how to put myself back together. My life is a complete mess. I can't even walk down Diagon Alley without being mobbed, and the media pounces on anybody I'm seen with, writing stories that have no basis in fact. Because of this, I spend most of my time in the muggle world." He didn't mention that most of his time was spent in muggle bars, but Gabrielle didn't push him on the issue.

"I know; my sister told me some of what has happened since the war ended, and I want to help. I know what it is like to be friendless and only seen as a symbol. Veela are treated like that everywhere we go." Gabrielle scowled, her accent becoming more pronounced as she got angry. "Men think of us as only their play thing, and most lose all cognitive thought when we get close, while women hate us for our natural beauty and what we do to their men. Each Veela tries to deal with in her own way, such as Fleur acting like a stuck up bitch to people who she didn't know, while I chose to throw myself into my studies; some retreat to the Veela colonies dotted around Europe."

Harry nodded knowingly. "Fleur has told me the same things, and having her as a friend has greatly helped both of us these last few years, but she doesn't know everything." Harry sat down on the beach with a look of fear and resignation. He opened his mouth a few times but no sound came out, and finally he shook his head in defeat. "I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about this yet. Most of it I haven't told anyone about, and it's hard to talk about."

"I understand Harry" Gabrielle said, sitting down next to him. "And I am here for you whenever you need a friend to talk to."

"I think I would like a friend." Harry said slowly, uncertainty thick in his voice. "But I don't think England would agree with you. Fleur doesn't say much, but I can tell that she is still facing a lot of discrimination outside of Gringotts. The war really didn't change much I'm afraid." Harry scowled again. "The Ministry is still full of same people, more concerned with their own power and wealth than helping make the world better."

"What about the Death Eaters?" Gabrielle asked, and Harry scoffed.

"Oh they were tried, and their attempts at claiming Imperius were ignored, but only a few really received the sentencing they deserved. People like the Malfoys managed to keep themselves out of prison by once again knowing the right people and donating a lot of money to 'charities'. The only good news is that the Malfoy's are now almost completely broke. Draco is now working for the Ministry, while his father still tries to play his political games." Gabrielle felt both sad and angered at the news. She had hoped that after the war, things would have gotten better, but things seemed to have stayed the same. "Muggleborns and 'half-breeds' are still discriminated against, and only a few seem to care. I tried to use my family seat in the Wizengamot to try and change things, but all I got was excuses that it was too soon to do anything. I swear if it wasn't for Bill and Fleur, I would just leave this god forsaken country."

Gabrielle smiled broadly and almost leaped to her feet. "Well then, I might just have the perfect solution, but we need to talk to Bill and Fleur." She reached down and pulled Harry to his feet, and while still holding his hand, turned towards the house and began to make their way back to the small cottage, pausing only to put back on their shoes.

-(=)-

Harry allowed Gabrielle to pull him along the path back to the cottage. If Harry was honest with himself, talking to the petite blonde girl made him feel slightly better. While walking back along the beach, he noticed that his hand was once again in hers, and he had to admit that her slight hand in his made him feel things that he hadn't felt since things with Ginny went pear shaped. As he was walking up the garden path he remembered something that had been curious about for a while. "Gabrielle, you mentioned that most men lose their cognitive powers when Veela are around, and I remember Ron turning into a blubbering idiot around your sister, but she never seemed to bother me. At first I thought it was just her, but your allure doesn't faze me at all either."

Gabrielle graced him with another one of her smiles, and he couldn't help but smile back. "Well 'arry, there are two possible causes to an allure not effecting you. The first is that you, as they say, play for the other team." Harry looked back at her incredulously as she just giggled. "I doubt that is the reason, at least I hope not." She winked at him. "The other reason is that a few strong willed men are able to resist; you, my father, and Bill are such men. That is one reason that Fleur likes you so much. You are one of the few people she has met who can hold an intelligent conversation with her and sees her as a person."

"Ah that makes sense" Harry said. "It is sort of like how I resist the Imperius Curse, I can feel the magic trying to work but I simply ignore it. When I first encountered the Veela at the world cup, I didn't know what was happening and the magic just took over."

Gabrielle nodded, and together the two walked into the house. After removing their sandy shoes, Harry looked up at the sound of small running feet in time to catch a flying toddler. "Unca Harry you're back. Why didn't you take me to the beach too?" The little Veela pouted cutely.

"Sorry Tory, but your aunty Gabrielle and me wanted to catch up, as it's been a while since we've seen each other. How about I take you to the beach later if the weather is still good, and we can build a sandcastle?"

"Gaby come too" Victoria almost demanded.

"Of course I'll come too" Gabrielle said smiling. "Let's go see if your maman has lunch ready yet."

The two walked into the kitchen with Victoria still in Harry's arms to find not only Fleur, but Bill just sitting down to lunch. "I was just about to send you a message that lunch was ready" Fleur said. Harry placed Tory into her high chair and took an open seat next to Gabrielle at the table.

Harry served himself a bowl of what he though was bouillabaisse, and felt a small smile grace his face while thinking of the first time he had met Fleur back at Hogwarts. "It's good to see you smile again Harry." Bill said as he dug into his own bowl of soup. "Fleur's bouillabaisse has that effect on me also. How's your head feeling? You seemed to have drunk more than normal last night."

Harry flinched at the reminder of his drinking problem and focused on eating his soup. "It's fine. The hangover potion and a nice walk on the beach helped a lot." Still focusing on his soup Harry refused to meet anyone's eye. "Thanks for helping me; I know how much of a bother it must be."

"Nonsense Harry, it is no bother at all." Fleur said. "Everyone goes through some tough times now and again, and family is there to help you out." Harry opened his mouth to protest but Fleur cut him off. "And you are family Harry, no matter what others say. Bill and I think of you as such. And little Tory would be devastated if her favorite Uncle stopped coming by." Harry couldn't help but smile at Fleur's passionate declaration. Perhaps he still did have some family left after all. "So what did you and my petite soeur talk about during your walk?"

"We decided that a change in scenery would be good for 'arry." Gabrielle said. "But of course, he refused to leave little Victoria."

"A change of scenery probably would be good for you Harry." Bill said. "What did you have in mind?" He asked Gabrielle.

"Well as you both know, I just finished Beauxbatons and my Charms Professor Monsieur Morrel offered me a spot as his apprentice for my Charms Mastery. He wants to retire soon and would like me to take over. I will be teaching the first two years of charms while I work on my mastery."

Fleur beamed proudly at her: "Oh Gaby I am so proud of you, that is wonderful news! I'm sure you will do wonderful."

"That's not all," Gabrielle said. "I was talking with Madam Maxime, and it appears that a few of her staff want to retire. As you probably remember Fleur, most of the professors are getting on in years." Fleur nodded. "It sounds like Madame Maxime needs a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor and also a new Runes Professor." Harry now knew where this was going, and he had to admit that the idea did hold some appeal to him. "I told her I knew a few people who might be interested in the positions, and she told me to ask them."

"Harry that would be wonderful for you" Fleur said. "George has told us about your 'DA' and how you taught everyone Defense in your fifth year."

Gabrielle was nodding excitedly. "And you two could take over the Runes class. I know maman and papa would be happy for you two to be closer to home."

Bill was nodding slowly. "You have complained a lot about the bigots here Fleur, and I really don't want little Tory growing up around that."

"What about Gringotts?" Fleur asked.

"We will have to talk to them, but maybe we can stay on and only take contracts on holidays."

"Uh," Harry said inserting himself into the conversation for the first time. "It sounds like a good idea, except my French is nowhere near good enough to teach a class, let alone read papers."

"Your French is actually surprisingly good for someone who has only been learning for the last year." Fleur complimented. "You can carry on a conversation and get around fairly well."

"Also, a group of muggleborns just released a product in France that allows you to speak and understand a language. Apparently it's a combination of an ear ring and a ring on your finger" Gabrielle told him excitedly. "They even have a pair of glasses that can help you read French. So far all you can get is French to English, but that's what you are looking for anyways. The only problem is that they are still quite expensive."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "And I suppose the reason I've never heard of them here is because a muggleborn was the one who invented it?"

"Right in one" Gabrielle agreed smiling. "So what do you think?"

Harry ran his hand through his hair giving him time to think. "I would be lying if I said that the idea didn't appeal to me, my time teaching the DA was the best part of my fifth year; and the idea of leaving England does too."

Harry saw Bill and Fleur lock eyes with each other and hold a silent conversation. "If it helps you make a decision Harry, Fleur and I will probably take the job offer, if you do."

"I am worried about the reception I will receive though" replied Harry, still thinking hard. "Who's to say that the people of France will treat me any better than the people of England have. I don't even have Mastery in DADA, let alone a NEWT in anything, as I never finished my education. I don't want the job just because I'm the 'Boy-Who-Lived' or 'Man-Who-Conquered', or any other stupid, hyphenated name."

"Well, as to that, Madam Maxime did say you need to get at least your NEWT before you start, but term doesn't begin for three months, so you have time."

Harry let out a relieved sigh. He was glad that Madam Maxime wasn't breaking the rules for him. That gave her a point in her favor in Harry's opinion. Then the realization hit him. "I'm going to have to do some serious studying if I plan to pass my NEWT by September 1st."

Gabrielle's smile lit up the room. "Does that mean you will do it?"

Harry smiled back at her nervously, still a little unsure about the whole thing with her. "I can't let my newest friend go teach all by herself now could I? I don't have a lot of friends, and I like to keep the ones I have close."

Gabrielle gave him a dazzling smile. "That's great 'arry, I can help you prepare. I just took the NEWT for Defense last week and I'm pretty sure I did well on it."

Not wanting to be left out, Bill threw in his two cents also. "You should be able to take your NEWT in Geneva at the ICW Headquarters. It will be a little tougher, but it will be an International Standard NEWT."

"Do you think I can take other tests there also?" Harry asked.

"I don't see why not." Bill replied. "They offer both OWL and NEWT level tests for all subjects. What other tests are you thinking?"

"Well, I think I've learned enough about Runes from you two to take the Rune OWL, and maybe later I can take the NEWT one after some more practice." Harry had found that he loved Runes, and was constantly kicking himself for not taking the class back in Hogwarts. Bill's lessons on Runes and Fleur's French lessons, along with his time with Tory, had been the one of the few bright spots in his life for the last few years, and one of the only things that he made sure he was sober for. Now with this new opportunity to maybe start a new life, Harry decided he was going to do whatever he could to make it work.

A/N Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.


	3. Diagon Alley

A/N Once again thank you to my wonderful Beta Matt2Parker for helping me make this look and flow better. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.

Ch. 3 Diagon Alley

Harry pushed open the door to the Leaky Cauldron, allowing the early morning light to flow in, illuminating the dust motes floating through the old pub. Glancing around the dining room, he was pleased to see that the small amount of early morning diners sitting at the tables were each absorbed in eating their breakfast or reading the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. Harry regarded the small veela perched on his shoulders and put his index finger to his lips indicating her to be quiet and received a nod while the small girl made a motion of zipping her lips shut before entering fully into the pub.

Gabrielle followed close behind Harry as they quickly passed through the bar and into the back garden. With Harry's hands busy balancing the small girl on his shoulders, Gabrielle reached into her pocket and drew out her wand, tapping the required bricks in a familiar pattern, opening the portal to Diagon Alley. As the two strode down the street, Harry was pleased that they decided to come early as the shops were just opening, and other shoppers had yet to arrive for their shopping, allowing Harry to pass through undisturbed.

Together they walked down the deserted street and approached a garishly painted shop topped with a large illuminated sign that proclaimed Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and ,ignoring the closed sign hanging on the door, opened the door and walked in.

At the sound of a small bell, a tall chocolate skinned girl with her hair all in braids never paused from her stocking of the shelves or turning to look at who entered to tell the new arrivals, "I'm sorry but we are still closed at the moment, we open in an hour."

"Does that also go for partial owners Angelina?" Harry asked smiling.

Angelina turned around from her stockings at Harry's voice, a large smile blossoming on his former Quidditch Captain's face. "Harry, it's good to see you, it's been too long." Angelina said coming over and giving Harry a one armed hug trying not to dislodge the toddler on his shoulders. "I'll just go tell George you're here." She turned and walked towards the back of the store.

"Unca Harry, down." The little Veela said squirming on Harry's shoulders. Harry reached up and lifted the small girl under her arms and stood her on the floor still holding onto the curious girl's hand as she glanced at the colorful boxes that lined the shelves.

"Well if it isn't my wayward business partner." George's cheery voice rang out as he came out from the back room.

"Hey George" Harry greeted shaking his friends hand. "You remember Fleur's sister, Gabrielle?" Gabrielle smiled and nodded in greetings. "Bill and Fleur had to go into work early today and we are meeting them after I speak with the Goblins." Harry dropped his eyes and regarded his shoes still ashamed of how he had been acting over the last few months. "Gabrielle found me and dragged me out of my last bender and gave me a better idea of what to do with my life then drinking myself into oblivion. To make a long story short, after I pass at least my Defense NEWT, you're looking at the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Beauxbatons Academy."

"That's great Harry," George said smiling. "You would be a great Professor, and I think getting out of the country for a while will do you some good also."

Harry looked down at an insistent tugging on his arm and noticed that Victoria had lost her patience. "Unca Harry, I want to expore"

"Okay Tory, we can look around." Harry replied smiling at the small girl as she pulled him by the hand.

-(=)-

Gabrielle smiled at Harry's back as she watched him be led away by her excited niece to look at what ever had caught the young girl's fancy.

"So where did you end up finding him?" George asked quietly. "All three of us had looked for him but were unable to find any leads. The anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts hit him pretty hard this time, and he went on a pretty long bender."

"I found 'im in a muggle dive bar in Soho, completely pissed is the word you Brits use. When he woke up we had a nice walk along the beach at my sister's, and a talk." Gabrielle couldn't help the smile that formed on her face as she remembered their walk along the beach hand in hand, and then returning to the beach later in the afternoon to build a sand castle with her niece.

George raised an eyebrow recognizing the look. "Well, that's good to hear, and I suppose a change of scenery will be good for him; and a good woman does wonders for the healing. After Fred's death, I was a mess probably just as bad as Harry's been, but then Angi came and pulled me out of the hole I was in and helped me realize that the best way to honor Fred would be to continue our dream. Of course that was after she kicked my ass for not talking to her for two months. So with her and Harry's help, I was able to get the store up and running again and put my life back together. That was of course before my bitch of a sister did what she did and the rest of my family bar your brother-in-law and sister turned their backs on him." Here George paused and gave Gabrielle a stern look. "I warn you though, if you break Harry's heart or hurt him in anyway, I don't care how many fireballs you throw, I will bury you."

Gabrielle nodded in understanding "I 'ave no desire to 'urt 'arry, 'e 'as been 'urt enough. I just want 'im to be 'appy, and 'opefully be a part of 'is life."

George nodded and his smile returned as if it had never left. "Brilliant, shall we go see what little Tory is suckering Harry into buying for her?" Gabrielle giggled and together the two found Harry standing over Tory who was sitting cross legged on the floor holding a strange pink fur ball with bulbous eyes in her lap cooing happily. "Ah I see you found the pigmypuffs." George said smiling. "Those are still one of our most popular items."

"Unca Harry, can I keep him?" Tory looked up at Harry her eyes big and lip slightly sticking out.

"We should probably ask your mummy first Tory." Harry replied.

"Please." Victoria begged her eyes getting bigger and her lip trembling slightly.

"They pretty much take care of themselves mate." George whispered to Harry. "They really are a great first pet for kids."

Gabrielle saw Harry's resistance crumble and she held in a giggle as he smiled down at the small girl, never really able to deny her anything. "Of course Tory, but you have to promise to take care of it, feed it every day, and clean up after it."

Victoria quickly nodded and by the time the group was ready to leave the store, they were now the proud owners of a pink pigmypuff named Bingbong, complete with all the necessary equipment needed to care for him. Before leaving the store Tory charmed her way into riding on Harry's shoulder's with her new pet sitting happily on his head. Gabrielle wished she had a camera at how cute the two looked, and as if in answer to her wish, bright flash bulbs erupted around them as they walked out the door. When Gabrielle's vision cleared she found herself surrounded by a large group of people, many of whom held cameras in their hands and using them quite freely.

The mob quickly began to move forward crowding closer around Harry and Tory forcing Gabrielle closer to Harry while at the same time shouting questions and asking for autographs, and not caring that the little girl on Harry's shoulders was beginning to get scared. "Mr. Potter" a woman in acid green glasses, a gold tooth and bleach blond hair asked forcing her way in front of Harry. "Can you comment on the rumors that you had a love child with Fleur Weasley nee Delacour, or about Andromeda Tonks' denial of any contact between you and Theodore Lupin?"

As the crowd got louder and closer, shouting more questions, Tory began to cry and Harry quickly lifted the small girl off his shoulders and held her close. "Gabrielle, hold on tight to my arm." he told her. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arm around Harry's and held on tight not really knowing what he was planning. Gabrielle suddenly felt like she was being pulled through a straw constricting her lungs as she disappeared, and reappearing a moment later with a slight pop.

It took Gabrielle only a moment to realize that Harry had apparated both her and Tory away from the mob. This realization caused Gabrielle to quickly do a once over herself ensuring that she still had all her parts before taking in her surroundings . She found that they were now standing at the top of a large marble staircase that formed the entrance to Gringotts down the street from the mob. Turning her attention to her friend and niece, Harry was holding Tory close whispering soothing words in her ear, trying to calm the frightened toddler.

Victoria began to settle down and held her new pigmypuff close while leaning her blond head on Harry's chest. "Does that 'appen often?" Gabrielle asked Harry still holding onto his arm.

Harry nodded, "every time I come to Diagon Alley. I had hoped we could have beat the crowd by coming early enough, but I guess I was wrong." Gabrielle could see the depression creeping back into Harry's eyes and she tightened her grip on his arm and leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry 'arry, I 'eard it was bad, but I never thought it would be that bad. Who was that woman in the green glasses?"

"That was Rita Skeeter, a supposed 'journalist', though all her stories are more fiction than fact. When Ginny and I split up, she led the smear campaign against me with Ginny's help."

"Well let's finish what we came here for and then we can go back and take this little one to the beach" suggested Gabrielle while tickling Victoria, causing the small girl to giggle. Harry smiled and nodded moving into the bank.

-(=)-

Harry tried to ignore the openly hostile looks the guards at the door directed at him while they adjusted their grip on the long pikes held in their clawed hands. Moving further into the lobby he found an open teller and approached the desk. "What do you want" the teller asked without even looking up.

"I have an appointment with my Account Manager" Harry replied.

"Name?"

"Harry Potter."

The goblin finally looked up and sneered at Harry. "You are lucky to still have your head, thief, let alone your account."

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. "I've already settled with your High Council and paid for the repair, now if I can please see my Account Manager." The goblin sneered at Harry again before jumping from his stool and leading the three through a maze of hallways until stopping at a pair of gold plated doors. The goblin knocked on the door before poking his head in, saying something in gobbledygook before pushing the doors all the way open and allowing Harry, Gabrielle and Victoria to enter the office.

"Ah Mr. Potter, right on time, that's one of the things I like about you" the goblin sitting behind the large oak desk greeted, while their guide shot a sneer at him as he closed the door. "And I see you are still as popular as the last time you came in, do not let the rabble bother you. The goblins who matter consider the matter closed and think nothing of it."

Harry nodded while taking Tory off his shoulders and sat down, the small girl in his lap and Gabrielle sitting next to him. "That's good to hear Bloodaxe, and I'm thankful that you are part of that group who considers that matter closed. Allow me to introduce a friend of mine, Miss Gabrielle Delacour, you might know her sister Fleur Weasley."

Bloodaxe gave Gabrielle a polite nod in greeting. "I do know your sister, one of our brightest employees. I am indeed one of those who think the matter closed as you well know Mr. Potter, besides, there is too much profit to be made for us to let such a small matter come between us." Bloodaxe pulled out a folder from one of his draws. "Speaking of profits, since I have you here, I thought we could go over your accounts as the quarter has just ended."

Harry nodded and took the offered folder opening it and scanning through the pieces of parchment inside. Harry did not know a lot about what he was reading and mostly just focused on the bottom line seeing which of his investments had grown and by how much. He closed the folder and handed it back to Bloodaxe. "Everything seems to be doing pretty well."

"That they are Mr. Potter; at least your investments in the muggle world are far outpacing the Market average, but your holdings in the wizarding world are still rather stagnant. The Ministry is still not making any moves to help the economy grow and the laws they are enacting are actually impeding growth with their restrictions on who can own a business and who can't."

Harry nodded knowingly. The Wizengamot in a show of trying to 'help' rebuild the economy after the war had passed new laws, giving large incentive to invest in business, but the law was riddled with clauses that practically made it impossible for a muggle-born to start a business if they hadn't already owned one. Harry had tried his hardest to form a group to fight this law, but was ultimately unsuccessful. "It's so good to know so much has changed, right Bloodaxe." Bloodaxe grinned showing his teeth at Harry's sarcasm. "Everything looks fine, keep up the good work. It looks like I will be leaving the country for a while, and I was wondering if I could access my accounts from France or if there was another way to pay for things particularly in the muggle world."

"You can withdrawal funds from your accounts from both our Paris Branch and also our Marseille Branch, but you would still have to make any changes to your investments with me. For the muggle world, we have a new product only available to our most valued clients, and by that I mean ones with the largest balance." Bloodaxe again reached into a draw and pulled out a plastic card that Harry recognized as a bank card. "This is modeled after the muggle bank card, you just pay with this at any store that accepts credit cards and the money will be exchanged at a modest fee and transferred to the store."

Harry knew that when the goblins mentioned a 'modest fee', it was usually anything but modest. "And what, pray tell, is this going to cost me?"

"Nothing to onerous Mr. Potter, only 5 galleons a year and 1% charge per exchange." Harry nodded; the exchange was actually a lot better than the typical 5% he knew the goblins tacked on when he had exchanged money directly from the bank. Deciding that it was worth it, he signed the required forms and was issued a new card.

"I also need a passport that would work both in the muggle and magical world, and I need them quick, and am willing to pay."

"Of course I can get you a passport, but rush delivery will be expensive."

Harry nodded. "Just bill me for it."

Bloodaxe tapped a few times on his desk and what Harry recognized as a magical camera appeared. Bloodaxe held the camera to his face and pointed it at Harry. "Smile Mr. Potter."

The camera flashed and blue smoke filled the room before it disappeared and Bloodaxe placed the camera into a desk draw. "Your passport will be sent to you via owl tomorrow morning."

"Perfect, thank you Bloodaxe. Like always, it was a pleasure doing business with you, but I'm afraid we have much to do today" Harry and Gabrielle rose from their seats and shook the goblin's clawed hand before leaving the office, with little Victoria being placed back on Harry's shoulders while Gabrielle carried the pigmypuff.

When the three entered the lobby, Fleur and Bill approached them with smiles on their faces. "So I take it the meeting went well?" Gabrielle asked.

"Oui," fleur replied nodding. "Bill and I are now freelance curse breakers for Gringotts. It is essentially the same job, but we only pick up assignments when we want to. The goblins were surprisingly open to the idea. It sounded like they had some budget cuts to make and are about to downsize the Curse Breaker ranks anyways. With us deciding to go freelance, we save them having to fire two other Curse Breakers, and they don't have to pay severance pay."

"Yeah I think everyone was quite happy with the outcome" Bill added.

"Mama!" Victoria said from on top of Harry's shoulders trying to get to Fleur.

"'ello my little princes" Fleur cooed, taking Tory off Harry's shoulders and hugging her.

"Look what Unca Harry got me." Victoria pointed to the small Pigmypuff sitting in its small cage being held by Gabrielle.

Fleur gave Harry a look as he smiled sheepishly. "And what exactly did Harry buy you?"

"It's a pigmypuff; George said they pretty much take care of themselves, and she just looked so cute playing with the thing." Harry replied.

"Bingbong!" Victoria said, trying to reach her new pet.

"Oh, and she named it Bingbong." Both Fleur and Bill just rolled their eyes at how Vitoria had Harry wrapped tightly around her little finger.

-(=)-

Gabrielle smiled, wrapping her arm around Harry's "So if we are all done 'ere, shall we move, I do believe we need to make a stop at the bookstore and I could really go for some ice cream."

Harry looked out the doors of Gringotts and Gabrielle could see the nervousness in his eyes. "I'm not sure, we gave the mob the slip once, but I'd suspect they will find us again."

"Well as to that, I think I 'ave the perfect solution." By this time, the group were standing on the steps just outside of Gringotts so Gabrielle pulled out her wand and turned to face Harry. "We just need to cast a few well-placed glamour charms, changing just enough and you will be just fine. 'onestly, I don't know why you don't do this yourself."

Harry's face colored. "I'm not really good with glamour charms. Whenever I've used them they just don't look right and they usually fail after only a few minutes."

"Well, it's a good thing you 'ave a charms prodigy 'attached to your arm, oui?" Gabrielle declared in a pompous voice, drawing a smile out of Harry. Regarding Harry with a critical eye, she twirled her wand before tapping his nose, chin, and top of his ear before stepping back to check her work.

"Well done ma soeur," Fleur complimented. "You changed just enough that if I didn't know that was Harry, I wouldn't recognize him."

Gabrielle smiled and reached up running a hand through Harry's hair. "I think I prefer your normal 'air. Blond does not suit you I think." Harry blushed but kept smiling at her his now blue eyes twinkling. "Bon, now that that is done, we can 'ead to the bookshop."

A/N Thanks for reading and please leave a review


	4. Vive La France

A/N From here on out most of the dialogue is in French. Thank you to my Beta matt2parker and I own nothing and make no money. Please to enjoy.

Ch. 4 Vive La France

Harry gazed out of the window of the Eurostar Express Train as it made its way out of Waterloo station in London, feeling a mixture excitement and sadness. He was excited to finally be traveling to another country and hopefully starting a new chapter of his life, while at the same time sad that he was leaving England for what he knew, deep down, was most likely for good. Even though his life in England had not been that good, he was still a bit sad to be leaving it.

Harry shook his head, clearing his mind of depressing thoughts, and instead focused on the new chapter of his life that was beginning today. Harry felt a soft pressure lean against him and he looked to his left, noticing that Gabrielle had fallen asleep and she had decided to use him as her pillow. Harry smiled down at the younger veela and, not for the first time in the last week, thanked whatever deity there was that brought her into his life. She had given his life purpose again and a chance at a fresh start, and he would be forever grateful to her. Over the last week, the two had spent a lot of time together, and Gabrielle had quickly taken over Harry's best friend spot. Harry thought that one day, they might be more, but he knew that that one day was still a ways off.

Deciding to let her sleep, Harry glanced around the train car, and noticing no one was around, summoned his bag to him and with his free arm pulled out a book and went back to studying, with a well-placed notice me not charm on the book's cover. Harry had been devoting most of his time over the last week to his studies and was quite surprised to find that, without constant threats to his life to worry about, he was able to absorb quite a bit of information. With the help of Gabrielle, he felt that he would be ready to take his NEWTS in not only DADA, but also Charms and Transfiguration, along with the Runes OWL. Slightly adjusting himself, he propped open his book and began to read.

-(=)-

Five and a half hours later, Harry was once again staring out the window watching the City of Lights flow past. As the train entered Gard Du Nord, Harry gently nudged the sleeping girl on his shoulder who instead of waking up, emitted a soft moan of complaint and tried to burrow deeper into Harry's shoulder. Chuckling softly, Harry tried again to wake Gabrielle. "Time to wake up Gabrielle; we wouldn't want the train to take us back to London now would we?"

Slowly the silver haired girl lifted her head and blinked owlishly as she looked out the window, until a large smile graced her face as something on the platform caught her eye. Quickly rising from her seat she reached down and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him up and only pausing long enough to grab their luggage before exiting the train. The cause of Gabrielle's excitement became evident to Harry for as soon as they were on the platform, Gabrielle was drawn into a tight hug by a woman Harry vaguely recognized as Gabrielle and Fleur's mother. "Bon jour ma petite angle," Madam Delacour said in French as she hugged her daughter tightly. "I am so happy you are out of the uncivilized county and back 'ome."

"Oui maman, it is good to be back," she replied. Harry smiled as he watched the two women until he was spotted by Madam Delacour.

"It is good to see you again 'arry," she said in heavily accented English while surprising Harry by drawing him into a hug also.

"It is a pleasure to see you again also Madam Delacour," Harry replied in his best French.

"Ah your French has improved quite a lot since our last meeting, non?" she replied switching back to her native language.

"Oui, Fleur has been teaching me for the last year, and I find that languages come surprisingly easy for me, and I can't help but feel fortunate for that considering Madam Maxime's offer."

"Tres bon, and I will hear none of this 'Madam' from you. You are practically part of the family and as such, you must call me Apolline." Harry nodded smiling in response as the older woman released him from her hug. Looping her arm through his while Gabrielle took the position on his other side, she led them off to where Fleur and Bill were waiting with Monsieur Delacour.

"Papa!" Gabrielle squealed while jumping into the waiting arms of her father.

"Ah it is good to have you home princess," he said before turning to Harry and extending his hand. "And it is good to see you again Mister Potter. I was quite pleased to hear you would be joining us before you start at Beauxbatons."

Harry smiled and shook the older man's hand. "Oui monsieur, thank you for letting me stay with you, and please, call me Harry. I hope it is not too much an inconvenience."

"Nonsense, we have plenty of room at our home. It seems quite empty with only Apolline and me, and Jean Luc will do for me." Harry smiled and nodded as the group began to make their way out of the station. When they were outside, they found an out of the way alley and, after making sure the coast was clear, Jean Luc pulled out a long rope and passed it around before he tapped the rope with his wand causing it to glow blue momentarily and Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel as the portkey twirled the group away.

The portkey deposited the group in a small entryway with marble floors that Harry was currently getting a close up view of as he picked himself up off the floor. "I hate portkeys," he grumbled, hearing the soft laugh of Gabrielle beside him. He looked up and gave her a mock glare that only made her giggle more, causing Victoria to join in from Fleur's arms.

"That's enough girls," Apolline admonished moving to help Harry up. "Portkeys and floo travel are notorious for their hard landings, especially if a witch or wizard is particularly powerful."

Harry smiled his thanks as he stood up with the help of Apolline and looked around the house he had appeared in. The small entryway opened up to an elegantly designed turn of the century sitting room complete with a marble fireplace and white winged armchairs surrounding a dark cherry wood coffee table under a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. "Welcome to our 'ome 'arry," Jean Luc said leading the group into the sitting room. "Please make yourself at home and you can leave your luggage and our house elf will take it to your room."

Harry took a seat in and looked around the sitting room, appreciating the lived in look of the house with numerous pictures of the four person family through the years. "I thought you lived in your manor?"

"When the girls were growing up we did, and we still spend time there, but the home is just too large for the two of us," Jean Luc replied

"So 'arry, is there anything you want to see while in Paris?" Apolline asked smiling.

Harry considered the question for a moment trying to remember what he knew about Paris. "Other than the major sights like Le Louver or the Eiffel Tower, I'm not too sure. I would like to stick to mostly muggle areas and I need to make sure I leave time to study."

"Then leave everything to me 'arry, I will make sure you see the best that Paris has to offer, starting with the food as I am starving," Gabrielle grabbed his hand and practically dragged Harry out the door and onto the streets of Paris, leaving behind her laughing family.

Hours later, Harry collapsed onto his bed completely exhausted, and he now understood why the others had decided to refrain from exploring with the two teens. Gabrielle was a whirlwind of energy and excitement, and she wasn't kidding when she said she would show him all that Paris had to offer. She made a valiant effort to cram as much as she could into the day while always making time for the food whenever it caught her eye. Harry had lost track of all the wonderful food they had eaten throughout the day, be it the light lunch in a café overlooking The Seine, the still warm crepes filled with fresh berries and cream they bought while meandering down the Champs-Elysees, or the quiet dinner they had shared in a small restaurant with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower alight in the clear summer night. They still hadn't gone to the Louver yet, but Gabrielle told him that in order to fully appreciate it, they would need to spend a whole day there. Harry, devoid of energy, fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow with the thought in the forefront of his mind that he had forgotten to do something.

-(=)-

Gabrielle was shocked awake by a loud scream, pulling her from her wonderful dreams of a green eyed, black haired wizard. Grabbing her wand, she quickly exited her room and followed the source of the sound to Harry's room, which coincidently, happened to be right next to hers. Wand drawn expecting trouble, she opened his door and found Harry curled up in a tight ball sobbing uncontrolledly. Lowering her wand, she moved to his bed and placed her hand gently on his shoulder, only for Harry to flinch away from her touch.

"He is having a nightmare," a sad, quiet voice came from the door. Gabrielle looked back, seeing her sister standing in the doorway dressed in her bathrobe looking sadly at Harry. "He thinks we do not know of course, as he usually puts silencing charms on his room when he would stay with us, but Bill removed them once or twice to make sure Harry was okay."

Gabrielle nodded absently, her heart breaking for Harry. Forgetting all aspects of propriety, she climbed onto the bed and lay down on her back pulling him into her arms with his head on her chest. With her arms circled around him, she began running her fingers through his hair like her maman used to do when she was younger, and his sobs began to subside as he began to relax into her embrace with his breathing evening. Gabrielle heard the soft click of the door and looked up, seeing her sister had closed the door leaving the two alone. Gabrielle gazed down at the troubled man in her arms, her fingers still running through his raven locks, vowing that she would do all she could to help him never have to suffer from nightmares again. Listening to the gentle sound of his breathing, Gabrielle's eye lids became heavy, and soon she was back asleep.

Gabrielle was again awoken a few hours later as she felt someone trying to pull away from her. "Stay, you are quite comfortable," she said in a sleepy voice. She opened her eyes to see Harry's eyes looking right at her, a mixture of fear and surprise marring those beautiful emerald orbs.

"Not that I do not enjoy my position, but what are you doing in my bed?" Harry asked, nervously attempting to hide his discomfort through cheek.

"You had a nightmare last night, and my presence seemed to help." Gabrielle smiled at her friend. "You seemed to sleep much better in my arms."

Harry's face turned scarlet, but whether from embarrassment from her hearing his nightmare, or their sleeping position, Gabrielle didn't know. "It was the best night's sleep I have had in a long time," Harry admitted quietly. "At least the second half of it, I must have forgotten my silencing charms last night. Sorry for waking you."

"Do not apologize 'arry, do you have nightmares every night?" Gabrielle asked, her voice full of concern.

Harry nodded and averted his eyes, trying to look anywhere but at her. "The only times I don't are when I'm too drunk to dream. It's the main reason that I started to drown myself in alcohol. When I'm passed out, I don't dream."

Gabrielle tightened her hold on Harry. "We need to find a better solution then." Gabrielle got a mischievous look on her face. "I quite like this solution," she said tightening her hold on Harry, smiling as his face turned scarlet again.

"I do not think your father would approve," he said, only for Gabrielle to wave away that argument.

"I'm just teasing 'arry; though I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning, I know you are not ready for anything; and papa has no say in what I do anymore, as I am a grown woman."

Gabrielle noticed Harry's smile increase slightly at the mention of waking up together every morning, and she suddenly thought that maybe that someday wasn't too far away. "Now we should be getting up if we are going to go to the Louver today." She released Harry from her arms and crawled out of bed and made her way to the door, making sure he noticed the sway of her hips. "Take a shower and meet me downstairs. Bill, Fleur and Victoria are joining us, so we should get a move on."

Gabrielle exited Harry's room and was immediately greeted by her mother, who wore a knowing smile. "So, did you have a good night's sleep last night?" she teased.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, "Yes maman, we SLEPT fine. As you no doubt heard, Harry had a nightmare last night, and I held him until he calmed down."

"I was just teasing you my angel, though your father might not find it quite as amusing. You are still his baby girl after all."

"I doubt anyone else could have calmed 'arry down."

Her mother sighed sadly. "Oui, that poor man has had a hard life, and has the nightmares to go along with it. Fleur told me a little about them. At least he isn't drinking anymore."

Gabrielle nodded in agreement. "I think our bond helped last night. As soon as I had him in my arms he calmed down, and he admitted it was the best sleep he had in a long time."

The knowing smile returned to her mother's face. "'ow are things going on that front? I know how much you like him and hope the bond turns into something more. 'ave you two kissed yet?"

"No we have not, we are still just friends, as Harry still has some trust issues when it comes to relationships. I think the only reason I have made this much progress is due to the bond and how it allows us to feel more comfortable with each other. He has even begun to initiate more contact, just hugs and hand holding, but it is something." Apolline nodded in understanding before the two separated, with Apolline heading down for breakfast while Gabrielle made her way to her room to get ready for the day.

-(=)-

The next few weeks passed quickly for Gabrielle and the rest of the residents of the large townhouse. The majority of her time was divided between showing Harry around Paris and the surrounding areas, helping Harry study, and spending time with her mother and Fleur, while Harry worked with Bill and her papa on Runes and Defense. Before Gabrielle knew it, July was coming to an end, and with it, Harry's birthday.

Gabrielle had thought long and hard on what she wanted to do for Harry's birthday, as she wanted to make it special. The breakthrough came after a conversation with Harry where he told her about the first time he talked to a snake. He made a casual comment about his cousin's birthday and how he was taken to adventure parks, movies, or other exciting places while Harry was always left at home until that faithful trip to the zoo. Gabrielle decided that since Harry had always been denied trips to amusement parks, she would take him to the best amusement park in all of Europe.

On the morning of July 31st, Gabrielle was already waiting downstairs with her parents, Bill, Fleur, and Victoria when Harry walked into the breakfast area. The loud cry of 'happy birthday' from all present chased the last vestiges of sleep from Harry as he looked around in surprise before a wide grin broke out on his face. "We have a special day planned for you 'arry," Gabrielle told him, giving him a tight hug. "It's time to start making up for all those experiences you were denied from your relatives." Gabrielle pulled out a silk scarf and held it in front of Harry, with a mischievous smile playing on her face. "But it is a surprise and you must be blindfolded."

Harry looked suspiciously between the blindfold and Gabrielle's smiling face before his lips turned up into a smile and he turned around allowing her to tie the blindfold around his eyes. "Can you see, and be honest," she asked him.

"Nope, completely blind."

"Bon, now hold on tight." Gabrielle grabbed his arm and spun on the spot apparating them both, followed quickly by the rest of her family. When she materialized again, she led Harry from the hidden spot used for apparitions and stood him in front of the main entrance. Reaching up, she untied his blindfold and Harry was able to read the sign above the main gate proclaiming 'Euro Disneyland' in big friendly letters. The wide grin that broke out on Harry's face was all it took for Gabrielle to know she made the right decision. The grin never left Harry's lips as they spent the entire day exploring the park and riding the rides and just having fun.

The week after Harry's birthday, Gabrielle joined a nervous Harry at the French Ministry of Magic Testing Center. The ICW had long ago standardized the OWL and NEWT exams to allow for better cooperation between witches and wizards from different countries, with the only major exception being England, as they had gradually lowered their standards below International levels over the last three decades. Gabrielle looked over at her friend, and seeing how nervous he was, took his hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "You will do fine 'arry. You've studied hard over the last few weeks and know the material backwards and forwards. "

Harry smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze back. "Thanks Gabrielle, and thanks for coming with me."

Gabrielle smiled back, moving closer to her friend. "I will always be 'ere for you 'arry," she said leaning against him holding onto his arm. The French Ministry of Magic was located under the Palace de Justice and you entered through a barrier at the base of one of the towers much like the barrier onto Platform 9¾. When the two reached the spot, Gabrielle looked around and quickly led them through the barrier and onto a moving spiraling staircase that carried them deep underground.

The staircase emptied out into a large marble tiled atrium, each tile inlaid with a gold fleur de lie lined with dozens of fireplaces and marble pillars, and at the center, a giant fountain with a white marble obelisk jutting out from the center surrounded by jumping jets of water. As they passed the fountain, she saw Harry eyeing the statue curiously. "The statue was made to 'onor all those who lost their life fighting in the resistance against Grindelwald and the Nazis during the Second World War. The British like to complain that we never helped them during their troubles with Voldemort, but where were they when Grindelwald was slaughtering us in numbers far greater than Voldemort ever did." Harry nodded absently still reading through the names. Gabrielle looked at her watch and saw they were cutting it close, so she gave Harry's arm a gentle tug and led him away from the fountain and into the lifts, riding it down to the Testing Center. After Harry checked in, she stood on her tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek while whispering 'good luck' before he was led away by the proctor, while Gabrielle took a seat in the waiting area.

A few hours later, Gabrielle was still sitting in the waiting area, reading the same sentence in her book for the tenth time as she anxiously waited for Harry to be done. She looked up as she heard the door open, right as a smiling Harry walked out. "Well, 'ow did you do?" she asked, trying not to let any of her nervousness show.

"See for yourself," he replied handing her a piece of paper. She glanced down noticing it was his results.

 _Ordinary Wizarding Level and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test Results For Harry James Potter_

 _Passing Grades_

 _O – Outstanding_

 _E – Exceeders Expectations_

 _A – Acceptable_

 _Failing Grades_

 _P – Poor_

 _D - Dreadful_

 _T- Troll_

 _NEWT Exam Results_

 _Defense Against the Dark Arts – O_

 _Charms – O_

 _Transfiguration – E_

 _OWL Exam Results_

 _Runes – O_

Gabrielle beamed at Harry and hugged him tightly. "Harry this is wonderful. I'm so proud of you." Her smile increased when she felt him warp his arms around her and hug her back just as tightly. Releasing him, she instead took his hand "Come, maman and papa are expecting us, and I know everyone is anxious to see your results." Gabrielle couldn't stop smiling as the two returned home, as the last hurdle was now clear for her Harry to teach at Beauxbatons with her.

A/N thank you for reading, let me know what you think.


	5. Beauxbatons

A/N Hey folks, I'm sorry for the delay but I've been quite busy in real life lately and thus gotten a little behind in my writing. I'll try to catch up and get back up to speed so stay tuned my loyal readers. Like always, big thanks to Matt2Parker and all of you who read and review all of my stories. I own nothing and make no money. So now please enjoy.

Ch. 5 Beauxbatons

Harry stood in the large open doorway, gazing open mouthed around the Entry Hall of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. He marveled at the beauty and elegance displayed before his eyes. "You were right Fleur, Beauxbatons is beautiful." Over the last month, he had visited a number of the old French Chateaus that littered the country side of rural France, each one a work of art of a time long past, and each and every one paled in comparison to Beauxbatons' splendor.

Fleur nodded beside him smiling as she gazed fondly around the entry hall. "Oui, it truly is a master piece."

"Oui, it is manufic, but Madam Maxime is waiting for us, and it would not be good to keep our new boss waiting." Gabrielle said on his other side. She took his hand and led him further into the entryway towards the Headmistress's office. Harry's eyes kept roving the hall, taking in the beauty around him. He was led down the long open hall tiled with alternating blue and white tiles flanked by white marbled columns, each tiled engraved in gold with the schools crest of two crossed wands spraying stars. Harry gazed up at the vaulted ceiling admiring the colorful frescos painted between the flying buttresses that supported the ceiling, while floating crystal chandeliers bathed the whole room in a pleasant welcoming light. Gabrielle, Flue and Harry reached the end of the hall and climbed a long staircase that parted half way up, leading off down opposite hallways.

As they strolled down the hall, Harry gazed outside, and for the first time realized that they were surrounded by tall snow peaked mountains. "So where exactly are we?" He asked his two companions. "The only information you gave me was that the Portkey Madam Maxime provided would take us to the school."

"We are in the southern part of the Pyrenees Mountains that border France and Spain," Fleur explained. "Like 'ogwarts, Beauxbatons was built to help teach young witches and wizards in safety, so naturally it was built far away from muggles in an area that is rather difficult to reach. Unlike 'ogwarts, students arrive by a timed Portkey provided by the school with their letters, it is much easier, especially since many students come from all over Western Europe."

The three continued to meander through well-lit and elegantly designed hallways adorned with numerous paintings all moving and chatting until they came to an open set of double doors that led into a well-appointed office with a large desk sitting in the middle, and behind it, the largest woman Harry had ever met.

"Bon jour Monsieur Potter, it is good to see you again," Madam Maxime greeted, rising from her chair and extending her hand.

Remembering the manners that both Fleur and Gabrielle had tried to teach him, he took Madam Maxime's hand in his and bowing over it, gave it a small kiss. "It is a pleasure to see you again Madam Maxime, I am truly grateful for this opportunity."

Harry straightened up as Madam Maxime retook her seat, indicating for her three visitors to take a seat also, and Harry helped the two girls into their chairs before taking his seat. "I see you 'ave managed to instill some manners into our British friend," Madam Maxime commented to Fleur and Gabrielle while smiling.

"We couldn't 'ave our newest Professor acting like an uncivilized barbarian now could we," Gabrielle shot back, giving Harry a fond smile. "He has learned well though, I think we might make a Frenchmen out of 'im yet."

"Now, Monsieur Potter," Madam Maxime said, getting the meeting back on track. "I was quite pleased with your NEWT results and delighted that not only did you earn your NEWT in Defense, but also Charms and Transfiguration, along with your OWL in Runes."

"Merci, Madam, Defense and Charms had always been my best subjects. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to inherit my father's flair with Transfiguration."

Madam Maxime nodded and reached into a drawer in her desk. "Here is your contract; it is for no less than a two year term with the option to extend it should you wish. The first year, you will be on probation and if your results at the end of your first year are not satisfactory, we have the option to terminate the contract."

Harry took the contract and read it over carefully. He gave a silent "thank you" to Bloodaxe for going over the language used in contracts when he had first met his account manager, so he wasn't completely baffled by the contract's text. Overall, it was fairly straight forward. Harry would teach Defense against the Dark Arts to all seven years, live at the castle and hold office hours during the week to be set at his discretion as long as they met the requisite time requirement. The pay was lower than he expected, but as he had a mountain of gold stashed in the bank, it wasn't important to him.

Harry sat the contract back on the desk, "That looks acceptable."

"Excellent," Madam Maxime handed Harry a black quill that he eyed warily with thinly veiled disgust. "I know that Blood Quills are detestable, but unfortunately they are required for contracts by the Ministry."

Knowing the truth of the statement, Harry took the quill trying to suppress the memories that swam to the surface as he signed his name, never flinching as the quill sliced into the back of his hand. As each letter carved into his hand, memories of his fifth year came unbidden into his mind, all culminating on watching Sirius fall backward through the Veil with his last laugh still on his face. After his name had been signed, he dropped the quill and sat back in his chair trying to keep his breathing under control. Gabrielle must have noticed his distress, as the platinum haired girl took his hand in hers and tapped the back of his hand with her wand. Harry looked down when he felt a tingling sensation spread from the point of her wand and spread throughout his whole hand taking any leftover pain from his hand.

Harry smiled his gratitude as Gabrielle adjusted her grip so that their fingers interlaced, rubbing her thumb over the back of his now pain free hand. With each pass of her thumb Harry felt the demons of his past retreat back.

-(=)-

Gabrielle could feel Harry's anxiety lessen as she rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. She didn't know why the Blood Quill triggered such a strong emotion, but she was sure there was a reason for it. "Good, now that the formalities are taken care of, 'ow about a tour?" Madam Maxime said, smiling and ignoring Harry's reaction.

"That would be wonderful" Harry said, starting to rise from his seat along with Gabrielle as her hand was still in his. "As I've been told, I've only seen the beginning of what Beauxbatons has to offer in terms of beauty."

Smiling, Madam Maxime led the three out of the office and began to give Harry the tour of the school intermixed with its history. Gabrielle only half listened as the Headmistress droned on in length about the founding of the school almost six hundred years ago and some of its traditions. Their first stop, much to Gabrielle's stomach's approval, was the dining hall for lunch. The four took a seat at one of the many round tables scattered around the vast room, with the food appearing on the plates before them. Gabrielle happily built herself a ham and cheese baguette that she munched on along with some fresh fruit while drinking a cold glass of milk.

As she ate, Gabrielle watched Harry gaze around the large dining hall, appreciating the beauty of the school. Gabrielle smiled fondly, remembering when she first sat in the dining hall almost eight years ago. Even though she was used to living in a beautiful manor filled with works of art from muggle and wizard artists, Beauxbatons' elegance still took her breath away.

Gabrielle was brought out of her pleasant memories by Harry. "How is the school organized?" He asked no one in particular.

"The school is organized by year only," Fleur explained. "We do not 'ave the 'ouse system that 'ogwarts does. Most students share at least one class with everyone in their year group, more depending on how the schedules are written up."

"So no ingrained house rivalries I take it?"

"Non, true there are a few rivalries between individual students for the usual teenage reasons, but we do our best here not to allow them to go too far" Madam Maxime replied, a note of pride in her voice. "We 'ave a strict anti-bullying policy 'ere that is explained in your Professor's Handbook that I will give you before you leave today." Gabrielle nodded in agreement, remembering times during her school years when teachers had stepped in to stop people harassing her. Of course after a few years of schooling, she was able to 'discourage' people from picking on her and her friends.

After everyone had eaten their fill, the group moved on with the tour, stopping at the library, the teacher's lounge, and finally Harry's classroom. "This will be your classroom," Madam Maxime told him. "The door at the back leads to your office and you can feel free to decorate both the classroom and office as you see fit."

Gabrielle gazed around the bare classroom. It's dull greyish white walls where unadorned and the floor was the same alternating blue and white tiled design of the rest of the school. Large arched windows lined one of the walls allowing natural light to illuminate the classroom, supplemented by candelabras hanging on the walls. Glancing at Harry, she noticed his eyes had gone unfocused as he gazed around the room, probably imagining how he would organize his new classroom. The group poked their heads into Harry's future office, revealing the same Spartan layout of the classroom, waiting for Harry to put his own touch on it.

Leaving the classroom, they made their way to a part of the Chateau that Gabrielle had never visited before. "This is where the professors and their families live," Madam Maxie explained. She approached a part of the wall covered by a painting depicting a young wizard fending off a group of raiders who were attacking a small village. The lone wizard had successfully stunned the last attacker when the small group approached the painting. "Stay where you are you brigands," the painting demanded, pointing his wand at the approaching group. "State your business or prepare to feel the displeasure of the Great and Powerful Tim."

Gabrielle couldn't resist the giggle that slipped through her lips, earning her a glare from the painting. "This is your new charge Tim," Madam Maxime said indicating Harry. "He will be living in the quarters you guard."

The wizard in the painting seemed to size Harry up before giving him a nod. "You will need to set a password."

Harry appeared to think for a minute, "Valiant," he told the painting, who nodded again.

"A good and fitting password young sir," he said before swinging forward allowing entrance to a tastefully designed sitting room. Gabrielle followed Harry in and took a seat on one of the plush couches that faced a unlit fireplace, and was joined by Fleur while Harry explored the room.

"Here is your class schedule, and copies of previous lesson plans from your predecessor. I would like you to send me a rough outline for each year, plus a book list. Since the letters have already gone out, we will be providing the students which ever books you choose on the first day of class. You can use the fireplace to floo in and out, but you will require a password that you have to set in order to floo in." Madam Maxime smiled again. "I do believe that is everything, feel free to owl me if you have any questions. Professors are required to be here the week before classes begin."

After bidding everyone a goodbye, the Headmistress left, leaving the three alone. "So what do you think 'arry?" Gabrielle asked breaking the silence.

Harry looked up from reading the parchment that Madam Maxime had given him on previous lesson plans. "It's great," he replied grinning. "I can't wait to get started. I have a lot of ideas on how to organize my classes. The old professor seemed to have taken a more traditional view on Defense though, but he still had some good ideas." Harry glanced at Fleur. "I'm assuming you and Bill already were given your orientation?"

"Oui, we came by two weeks ago. Our rooms are just down the hall of yours." Fleur smiled mischievously, "And Gabrielle's rooms are right next to yours."

Both Gabrielle and Harry's faces turned scarlet and Gabrielle threw one of the light blue and silver pillows at Fleur's head striking a direct hit, muffling the sound of her sister's laughter. "Oh you two are too cute. Come, maman will have dinner waiting, and I'm sure my daughter is anxious to see her uncle and aunty." Fleur conjured a fireball, lighting the fire in the fireplace before throwing pinch of floo powder into the flames and stepped in, vanishing in a whoosh of ash and sparks, followed quickly by Gabrielle and Harry.

-(=)-

Over the next week, Harry had dived head first into lesson planning and book selection for the coming year. He hadn't felt this invigorated in years, and he had to admit, it felt good to have a purpose again. He started by going through all the lessons plans that his predecessor had left for him to get a general idea on what to expect for the older years. He realized that his statement to Gabrielle about him focusing on a more traditional approach to Defense was truly accurate, as the man seemed to focus on formal duels when fighting with other wizards, and never ventured into the more free form fighting that existed in the real world. His book choices confirmed this as they were mostly dueling books.

"How is the planning coming 'arry," a voice asked from behind him. Harry turned around from the desk he had been using for the last few days back in the Delacour Townhouse to see Gabrielle standing there in a cute, dark blue sundress that seemed to cause her platinum hair to gleam even brighter than normal. Harry had to admit she was beautiful and he found himself thinking about her a lot lately. He had come to look forward to her little touches, something he hadn't felt except with Hermione or Ginny.

"Good, I have the general outline for all seven years set, and more specific lessons done for the first three years. I just need to finalize my book list now, and finish the older years' lessons."

"Do you want to go to Rue De Magic? The main bookstore there is twice the size of Flourish and Blotts."

"Yeah, that would be good. I need to get my translation rings also, as my French writing and reading is still a little weak." Harry placed his pen on the desk and stood up from his chair, stretching his back. "Let me change real quick and we can go. We can't have such a beautiful woman standing next to a shabby looking wizard now can we?" Gabrielle laughed as he left the room to change.

Two hours later, the two left The Rosetta Stone, purchases in hand. It had cost Harry a good deal of gold, but he was now the proud owner of a ring that allowed him to write in French, and a new set of glasses that allowed him to read French as fluently as he did English. Gabrielle had declared his speaking and listening abilities were good enough that he didn't need the tongue ring or ear ring, something he was quite grateful for. After leaving the shop, the two made their way to Non Limite Books. Gabrielle hadn't been exaggerating, the bookstore was huge. The shelves were lined with books in multiple languages, from all subjects and genres ranging from Arithmancy to Zoology. Harry even noticed a large section of muggle subjects in both fiction and non-fiction.

Harry navigated his way through the stacks until he found the Defense section and began to run his fingers along the spines of the books reading the titles. He would stop now and again and pull a book off the shelf and set it in the floating basket beside him while Gabrielle looked on amused.

Harry's eyes widen in surprise when he came upon a group of books. Smiling broadly, he pulled a set of four books off the shelf. "What did you find?" Gabrielle asked, surprised by his excitement.

Harry held up the set of four books and began to flip through the one on the top, a large smile on his face. "These books are some of the best Defense books ever written, but they were banned from store shelves in England by the Ministry for being 'not proper for the everyday wizard or witch.'"

Gabrielle's interest was piqued. "Who wrote them?"

"Alastor Moody, or as he was called, Mad-Eye Moody, he was one of the best Aurors ever to work for the Ministry. I heard him talking about these and have been trying to find copies of them with no luck." Harry continued to flip through the books, moving through each one as he scanned them. After flipping through the last one, he put them on the pile and assessed the stack of books.

"So what are you thinking?" Gabrielle asked, also eyeing the pile of books.

"Mad-Eye's books are a bit too advanced for the first few years I think." Harry sat the four aside. "I still haven't found anything better than the _Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against Dark Arts_ books. They give a great overview of many spells ranging from easy school yard jinxes to higher up spells. So I think those will be the first two year's books and I will continue to reference them through all seven years." Harry placed the two volume set aside in a new pile. "I think I will stick with 'Dark' Creatures for the third year as that worked out well in Hogwarts," He said and sat Mad-Eye's _When Animal's and other Creatures Attack_ on the stack next.

"I think after that we will move into more advanced curses and their defenses for the next few years." Harry placed the other three of Moody's books on the pile. "And for Seventh year's students going for their NEWT, I'll use the book Snivillus chose. The man might have been a bastard, but he knew a good book when he saw one." Harry placed _Confronting the Faceless_ on the top of the stack. Satisfied with his book selection, Harry and Gabrielle paid for the books and left the store.


	6. Welcoming Feast

A/N Sorry about the long delay but real life is getting extremely busy lately leaving little time to write. All thanks to my Beta matt2parker and JK for letting us play in her world even if she seems determined to ruin our fun with actual "family history" for the Potters.

Ch. 6 Welcoming Feast

Harry gazed uncertainly at the large, unremarkable building on the outskirts of Paris in the late summer sun. "Are you sure about this?" he asked the girl holding his hand.

Gabrielle nodded determinedly. "I think it will help in the long run. Papa says that these mind healers are trained both in magical and muggle techniques, and are quite adept at helping people who have gone through difficult situations."

Harry nodded his head absently, still looking at the building in front of him. He felt Gabrielle squeeze his hand and he looked down, locking eyes with the silver haired girl beside him. He had grown up being told that he was a freak, and deep down he feared that soon, other people would realize what his own family had realized for as long as he could remember, that Harry was a freak. Sure, he hadn't consciously considered himself a freak since his first year at Hogwarts, but the scars were too deep for those thoughts to just disappear.

When he locked eyes with his best friend, he did not see disgust in those beautiful sapphires; instead, they were full of affection and support. It was the same when she had suggested this meeting in the first place, the morning after the tour of Beauxbatons. Harry knew that the encounter with the blood quill would trigger some of his worst nightmares, so he had doubled the strength of his silencing charms before going to sleep. Sure enough, as soon as he closed his eyes he was dropped into some of his worst nightmares.

Sometime during the night though, his nightmares suddenly stopped and he found himself having pleasant dreams filled with a familiar blue eyed girl with shimmering silver hair. When he woke up in the morning, he thought he was still dreaming, as the same eyes were a few inches away, filled with concern and care. "Do you want to talk about it 'arry?" she had asked quietly. She didn't insist he tell her, she just quietly asked, letting him know that she was here for him if he wanted to talk.

His first instinct was to say he was fine and nothing was wrong, but he couldn't deny those eyes, so full of worry. He found himself telling her everything about his fifth year and his experience with blood quills, and why he had such a bad reaction to them. He even showed her his hand that still had the faint outline of 'I must not tell lies' etched on the back. It was the first time in a long time that he fully opened up to someone and told them everything he was feeling; from his feelings of abandonment by his friends and godfather for not writing to him, his anger at the Headmaster for ignoring him and at the Ministry for their willful blindness and lack of fairness and justice. He even told her about his disappointment at the teachers for not protecting their students while letting Umbridge run amok in the school. When he told her about Snape's occlumency 'lessons', and his friends reaction to them, she looked ready to start throwing fireballs.

He finished it off with telling her about watching his godfather die right in front of him, only to be told two hours later that it was up to him to save a group of people who had hated him, feared him, and belittled him, all on the words of a drunken fortune teller. When he was finished, he realized that tears were running down his face and that Gabrielle had curled her slender arms around him, holding him to her chest as he cried and told her his story.

"I think you should talk to a professional about some of this 'arry," Gabrielle had told him quietly. "I think it will help. Papa used to be an Auror, and he's told us about having to see special Mind Healers whenever he had to take a life, or if someone on his team died. He said they are quite good at helping people work through bad experiences."

Harry's first reaction was to deny that he needed to talk to anybody, but then he realized that a small part of him felt better after telling Gabrielle a small part of his life. He knew that he needed to find a solution to his nightmares, and since he wouldn't let drinking be that solution, he needed to find another one. His decision made, he nodded his acquiescence, and Gabrielle promised to make all the arrangements.

Her arrangements resulted in Harry and her standing in front of what Gabrielle had said was the Magical Hospital in Paris a few days before they were due to report to Beauxbatons for the start of term. Gabrielle squeezed his hand reassuringly again, noticing his nervousness, and her presence and support gave him the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Gabrielle led Harry to a pair of double doors that opened automatically into a well-lit hospital waiting room that Harry was surprised to find resembled a muggle hospital that he once saw on one of Petunia's daytime soaps. Even the doctors, or healers as he remembered they were called, dressed very similar to muggle doctors.

His surprise must have shown on his face, as Gabrielle whispered, "all of our hospitals in France are modeled after modern non-magical hospitals, as we have found that they seem to work quite well." Harry nodded as the two approached the front desk. "Name?" the nurse at the desk asked.

"Gabrielle Delacour to see Healer Alfred Benet," Gabrielle replied as Harry gave her a grateful look. The nurse glanced down at her clipboard before looking back up smiling.

"Of course Miss Delacour, you can go right up to his office on level three, third door on the right. He has his own receptionist and waiting room there. The next time you come to see him you can go right up to his office."

"Merci," Gabrielle said before Harry and her walked away from the desk and followed the directions to the Mind Healer's office. The room they entered was much more comfortable, with squashy arm chairs surrounding a coffee table laden with both mundane and magical magazines. A receptionist sat behind a desk, absentmindedly filing her nails, idly reading what Harry recognized as the French version of Witch Weekly.

Standing in front of the desk, Gabrielle cleared her throat to alert the receptionist to their presence, causing the slightly older woman to jump slightly in surprise and look up, startled to see Harry and Gabrielle standing in front of her. "Oh hello, how may I help you?" she asked, her eyes never leaving Harry while she smiled in what Harry assumed was supposed to be a flirtatious way.

"WE have an appointment with Healer Benet," Gabrielle said in a voice Harry recognized as her annoyed tone as she moved closer to Harry. He squeezed her hand in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and noticed that her scowl lessened slightly but she still glared at the receptionist, who was oblivious to all of it as she looked at her clipboard.

"Of course, I will see if he is ready for you," she stood from her chair and briskly walked to the door on the opposite end of the room.

-(=)-

Gabrielle glared at the swaying hips of the receptionist as she walked to the office. Her glare was redirected at Harry when she heard him chuckle quietly beside her. "Try not to burn her too much Gabrielle, I suspect the amount of product in her 'natural' blond hair would not react well to one of your fireballs." Gabrielle couldn't stop the unlady- like snort that escaped her at Harry's comment.  
"Besides, when one is standing next to the most beautiful woman in the world, well, let's just say other women might as well not even exist."

Gabrielle could feel her cheeks turn scarlet, while at the same time her smile split her face. It wasn't the first time Harry had complimented her, but the way he said it and the look in his eyes made this time feel different. She stood closer to Harry, wrapping her arm around his waist. She felt his arm slip around her slender waist and pull her closer. She was wondering if, perhaps, she could attempt a kiss when the door opened and the receptionist walked out of the office, and seeing how close the two were, glared daggers at Gabrielle, while Gabrielle just smirked back. "The Healer will see you now." Gabrielle had to hold back her laugh at the woman's tone, the jealousy only barely concealed.

Harry and Gabrielle left the receptionist and walked into the office, the door closing behind them. The office was larger than Gabrielle was expecting, with the walls covered in a mixture of mundane landscape paintings and moving magical paintings. The far wall was dominated by a large window illuminating the office with natural light, with a large dark oak desk sitting in front of it, occupied by a grey haired wizard with a close cropped beard that matched his grey hair. The wizard stood from his desk, smiling as he adjusted his wire framed spectacles on his nose and walked around his desk to greet the newcomers.

"Good morning, Miss Delacour, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Your father has told me much about you." He took her free hand, and after bowing over it, gave it a small kiss. "And you must be Mister Potter, it is an 'onor to meet you. " He shook Harry's hand, and Gabrielle was relieved to see his eye's never venture to Harry's scar. He motioned to a dark leather couch with a pair of matching leather chairs on the opposite side. "Please have a seat."

Harry and Gabrielle settled next to each other on the couch while Healer Benet took one of the arm chairs across from the pair. Gabrielle hid a small satisfied smile that not only did Harry not release her hand, but sat rather close to her with their hips touching. "Your message was rather vague in asking for this appointment Miss Delacour, could you please elaborate on what you are wanting?"

Gabrielle smiled encouragingly at Harry, and he nodded in understanding. "Actually, it's me who is actually in need of your services. My life has not been, shall we say pleasant, and I think I need help dealing with the results."

Healer Benet had a look of surprise. "Are you saying that after everything you have gone through, and granted I expect that I have only heard vague rumors about your school 'adventures', that you have never received any sort of counseling?"

Harry shook his head, "No, after every 'adventure' during my school years, I was shipped back to my _relatives,_ and isolated from everyone I knew. My _relatives_ would be the last people to even ask if something was bothering me." Gabrielle saw the Healer's eyebrows furrow at Harry's tone when he mentioned his relatives, but ignored it for now. "I am having trouble sleeping, and when I do, I am plagued by nightmares that, for the last year, I dealt with by drinking, but it has been pointed out to me that I should find a better way of dealing with my issues. I suppose I have a lot of other issues that you could help with, but those are the broad strokes."

"Your friend is right, drinking excessively is never a good solution, it only suppresses your problems for a short time while at the same time making them harder to fix in the long run." Healer Benet steepled his fingers and regarded both Harry and Gabrielle, observing their closeness. "I think I can help you Mister Potter. I believe what you are suffering from mostly is what my mundane colleagues are referring to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. It is very common in soldiers or people who have lived through very traumatic experiences. From what I know of your history, you fit both of those categories." Harry gave a sharp nod but said nothing. "One of the most important parts of helping with this condition is having a strong support system in place, including someone who can be your 'rock'."

Gabrielle was both surprised and ecstatic when Harry looked at her with hope in his eyes. She smiled and nodded, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, confirming again that she would always be there for him through everything. Gabrielle might not know what Harry was going through as a result of the war, but she had experienced many of the same problems he had growing up. The isolation from her peers for being 'different', of having a power that caused her to be ostracized by people who did not understand said power, and instead spread hurtful rumors about her. The stares, the constant attention, and the utter loneliness that came from always wondering if the person you were friends with was only friends with you because of your 'power'. But where she had a strong support structure in her family, Harry had had no one, and that was what Gabrielle was going to change.

-(=)-

Harry looked over the Dining Hall of Beauxbatons, now teaming with students, from his seat at the Head Table. Dressed in his new black with powder blue trim professor robes, he smiled brightly, caught up in the familiar excitement and anticipation of a new school term. Turning to his right, he caught Gabrielle's eye and shared a smile with his Veela friend. After the first meeting with Healer Benet, he had felt closer to her, and the closeness had only increased after the second meeting they had attended together. Originally, he had thought that his sessions with Healer Benet would be one on one sessions, but Benet had suggested that Gabrielle join them, and share some of her experiences also. Harry had been nervous at first discussing things that he never wanted to discuss with anyone, but then he remembered how he felt after that morning when he had first told her about his fifth year, and found the courage to continue. Oh, he knew he was a long way from being healed, but he knew he was on the right path. Healer Benet had even mentioned that they would be using a pensieve to better help going over his memories, something Harry definitely wasn't looking forward to.

When the last students filed into the vast hall and found seats, Madam Maxime rose from her chair at the center of the Head Table, causing both the students and the professors to rise from their seats, and they only retook their seats when the smiling half giant motioned for them to sit down with a welcoming smile on her face.

"I would like to welcome you all to another year at Beauxbatons. For our new students, I would like to extend a special welcome to you and hope that the next seven years leave your mind full of both knowledge and happy memories. For those of you returning, you might notice that we have a few new faces joining the staff this year. First, allow me to introduce William and Fleur Weasley, who will be taking over for Professor Monroe as the Runes Professor." Madam Maxime paused for polite applause. "Next, some of you will recognize Gabrielle Delacour as our Head Girl from last year. She has accepted an apprenticeship under Professor Morel and will be teaching Charms for the first three year group." This time, Harry noticed that the applause was quite a bit less, and that a large portion of the older girls were glaring at Gabrielle while not applauding at all. Frowning, Harry made a point to memorize the faces of those glaring the hardest at his best friend, in order to keep an eye on them and ensure they didn't cause her any troubles.

"Finally, it is my pleasure to introduce our new Professor for Defense against the Dark Arts, Harry Potter." The room grew silent for a few heartbeats before it erupted in loud applause, causing Harry to stand and wave nervously at the assembled students. Madam Maxime was nodding and clapping along with her students, also smiling at Harry before he retook his seat. Madam Maxime waved her large hands trying to settle the students who gradually quieted down. "Now, without further ado, Bon Appetit." Madam Maxime clapped her hands while food appeared on the tables. Harry smiled at the memory of his first welcoming feast at Hogwarts, where Dumbledore had used a similar trick, and wondered if all Headmasters had a flare for the dramatic.

His thoughts were interrupted though, as the aroma of the food caught his nose, and his stomach reminded him that he had skipped lunch and was rather empty. Taking ahold of the dish closest to him, bouillabaisse he guessed, he caught Gabrielle's eye and hefted the large serving bowl, and at her answering nod and smile, he filled her bowl with the delicious soup, ensuring that she received a good helping of the sea food that he knew she loved so much. After filling his own bowl, and then his plate with a variety of the other food around him, he began to eat sedately.

"It appears that I owe you a galleon, eh Harry?" A voice said from his side. Harry turned to the smiling face of Julie Bardon, the Arithmancy Professor and Deputy Headmistress. Julie Bardon was an older woman of an age with Professor McGonagall, but the age and position was where the similarities of the two women ended. Where McGonagall was a stern woman who rarely let her personal feelings show or interfere with her work, Julie Bardon wore her emotions on her sleeve. Like her Hogwarts counterpart though, she played no favorites and tried to treat each student fairly.

"It appears so, I counted at least three minutes of clapping," Harry replied, half smiling. Harry had first met the Deputy Headmistress when he and Gabrielle had arrived for the first staff meeting of the new school year, and she had taken it upon herself to introduce herself and the other professors to Harry. She had then spent the rest of the day helping Harry get his classroom in order, while at the same time talking about life at Beauxbatons.

Harry had found that the Arithmancy Professor was a wealth of unbiased information about the school, the French Ministry, and every other subject that came up. "I never appreciated when people would sugar coat things to 'spare my feelings' when I was younger," she had told him when he had commented on her bluntness. "So I promised myself that I wouldn't sugar coat things, and instead I would tell the truth, or at least how I saw it. True, it has bitten me in the ass a few times, but if a person can't handle the truth then they shouldn't ask."

Harry had immediately come to appreciate the woman's bluntness, as he too had spent the last seven years dealing with people who refused to tell him the truth on multiple occasions under the guise of 'he was too young to handle it'. He could see the problems that could arise from such an attitude though, as not everyone appreciated when they were told they were acting the fool.

"Are you all ready for your first class tomorrow?" she asked after a few minutes of eating.

Harry swallowed what he was eating and nodded. "I don't think I've been this excited for something in a while. I have to admit I am a bit nervous though, I've never taught in a structured classroom environment before."

"Oh tosh," Julia scoffed waving her hand. "That DA club you started back in your fifth year was run just like a class from what you've told me, except now you have real authority and can assign homework. You've already ran through the first few lessons with Gabrielle and me as your guinea pigs, and they all went well." Harry wasn't totally convinced though, and his face must have shown it. "Trust me, if you were crap, I would have told you already."

Harry couldn't help but smile knowing the truth of that statement. She had already told him a time or two that something he thought was a good idea was utter crap and should be never thought of again. Before Harry could form a reply, he noticed that the food had disappeared and the hall had quieted to whisper. Harry looked up and saw the Headmistress had risen from her seat. "Now that you all are fed, I do believe that is time to head to your dorms. First years, please stay back and you will be led to your dorm by the Head Students and Prefects. They will also help you find your way around the school for the first week. Sleep well, as classes start bright and early tomorrow."

With that dismissal, the students rose from their chairs and began to make their way to the exit of the hall. Harry felt a small hand on his shoulder and looked up to the smiling face of Gabrielle. "Would you care for a walk 'arry?" she asked smiling. Harry could see the smile of the Deputy Headmistress out of the corner of his eye, but payed it no mind as he focused on the sapphire eyes of his best friend.

"I think a walk would be lovely," he stood up and extended his elbow for Gabrielle who, still smiling, looped her arm through his. The two walked out of the Great Hall to enjoy a nice moonlit stroll through the grounds of Beauxbatons.

A/N Thank you for reading and let me say right off the bat I AM NOT A DOCTOR. All my info on PTSD and its treatment is all from google searching and psychiatric websites. I tried to be as _real_ as I could with a realistic treatment method but if I screw something up I'm sorry. So with that said please read and review and let me know what you think.


	7. First Classes

A/N See earlier chapters for disclaimer

Ch. 7 First Classes

Harry sat at his desk the next morning, a smile playing on his face as memories of last night's walk swam through his mind. After the feast, he and Gabrielle strode arm in arm around the moonlit grounds of Beauxbatons, enjoying the warm evening. As they walked, Gabrielle told him more about her time at Beauxbatons, and the more Harry learned, the more he came to realize just how similar their school experiences were, at least when it came to the social aspects. Gabrielle had explained about Veela before, and what some went through if they lived outside one of the 'Veela Enclaves', a community made up of Veela and their mates, but hearing her tell about her memories and experiences as they walked by where many of those had taken place, was a real eye opener for Harry. As the night drew on, Harry escorted Gabrielle back to her quarters and was the recipient of a light kiss on the cheek before the silver haired girl escaped into her room, leaving a smiling and blushing Harry to return to his rooms.

Harry was drawn from the pleasant memories as the door to his classroom opened and students began to file in. Curiously, his first class happened to be made up of about twenty first year students, and this was also going to be their first class. Knowing this, Harry had planned accordingly.

When everyone was seated, and the bell rung, Harry rose from his seat smiling broadly, trying to hide his nervousness. "Good morning class, and welcome to your first magic class. First thing first, when I call your name, please respond with 'here'." Harry spent the next few minutes going through the class register, trying to put each name with a face and hoping he would be able to remember the students' names. "Now that is out of the way, this is Defense Against the Dark Arts, and over the next six years, seven if you choose to continue, you will learn how to not only defend yourself from attacks both from wizards, and magical animals, but more importantly, you will learn how to survive. As most of you most likely know, England just went through a civil war, and though people say the good guys 'won', no one really wins in a war. Mostly, you just want to survive, and in this class I will teach you how."

Harry paused, and his eyes roamed around the classroom seeing each and every student focused on his every word. "Mister Flemming," Harry asked a short blond haired boy sitting towards the front. "What would you do if I fired a curse at you?"

The young student looked startled at being asked a question so directly and his eyes shifted back and forth, looking for help from his classmates, but to no avail. "I, uh, would cast a shield charm?" he replied haltingly.

"Wonderful, you know how to cast a shield charm already?" Harry asked, his voice full of cheer.

Flemming's face turned scarlet as he shook his head in the negative. "Um no, I can't cast one yet. I only found out I was a wizard a few months ago." Harry nodded, smiling at the nervous boy.

"Not to worry Mister Flemming, the shield charm is still a few years away. Who has another idea of something that you can do, even if you do not have your wand?" A girl with long black hair and coppery skin raised her hand, "Yes Miss Nerita?"

"You can try and dodge it," she replied with confidence.

"Correct, the best way to avoid a curse is not be where the curse is, and we will be working on dodging throughout the year. The reverse of this, is that you need to be able to hit what you're aiming at. So today, we are going to start with aiming. And later we will be working on dodging. Now please stand up and stand along the far wall." The sound of moving chairs reverberated around the room as the powder blue adorned students rose from their chairs and stood along the wall. Harry took out his wand and with an arcing wave, vanished all of the desks and chairs, leaving the room completely empty. Another wave of his wand produced a collection of tripod stands with a traditional archery target facing the students. "Please stand in front of a target and take out your wand." The students moved to comply and after a minute each student was paired with a target. "Now the spell we will be using is a simple spell that fires a glob of paint in a color of your choice. The first born students might recognize these as paint balls, a sport played by non-magical people." A few students nodded. "There is no wand movement you just point where you want it and say the incantation." Harry pointed his wand at one of the targets and said " _Pingere_ " sending a glob of blue paint at the bullseye of the target. He waved his wand and the incantation appeared on the board, spelled out phonetically. "Any questions?" Seeing none, he nodded again. "Try to focus on accuracy and not speed. Speed will come later."

Soon, each student was sending multi colored paint at the targets, with few hitting the target but most covering his far wall in a rainbow of colorful spots. Harry walked behind the firing line and helped the students as they worked, correcting grips, and giving pointers. As the class drew on, fewer and fewer paint balls hit the wall and started to hit the target, with a few hitting the inner rings. "Wonderful start" Harry said to the class in the last few minutes of the period. "That is a very good start, and something that you should practice on your own. I will have the targets stored in my classroom for anyone who wants to target practice. I do ask that you use the targets only, so as to not give the house elves too much extra work. For homework, I want you to read the first two chapters in your text book and summarize the spells mentioned and their uses." The bell rang and the class filed out, chattering happily.

When the last student had left the class, Harry took a seat at his desk and looked into the far corner of his classroom away from where the paint was flying. "I'm glad you managed to keep away from the paint Headmistress."

The air shimmered, and the large form of Olympe Maxime appeared in the corner, her lips curled and her eyes twinkling. "How did you know I was there?"

"I've had to learn to mind my surroundings," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders, his smile dropping. "So how did I do?"

"Wonderful, the kids seemed to enjoy the lesson, and you are right, accuracy is something that a lot of teachers ignore, and thus many wizards and witches cannot hit the broad side of the barn if it is not right in front of them." She gave him a stern look, "Though I hope you do realize how much more work you made for the house elves. You know they will use that paint spell everywhere."

Harry nodded, rubbing the back of his neck while grinning crookedly. "Yeah, sorry about that, but I couldn't think of any spell that would work as well." Harry waved his wand again in a long swish causing the paint to disappear. "Besides, the paint cleans up rather easily, and the kids seemed to enjoy changing the colors."

"That they did," Madam Maxime agreed, smiling at her new professor as she left the room and a group of second years began to file in.

-(=)-

Lessons for the other years started off much the same as the First Year lesson, but with the addition of a quick quiz that was meant to judge how much the students retained from their previous year. Harry was not surprised to see that the Beauxbatons students were much farther ahead than his classmates were at their level, but of course he had had a stuttering Quillmort to deal with, followed by Lockhart and the Toad. The only competent professors he had for the subject were a werewolf and two Death Eaters. "This quiz will not count towards your grade," Harry told the obviously nervous classroom as he banished the test papers to the students. "This is just a way for me to judge where to start, and if I need to go over anything again."

After the test, he had the students stand against the wall while he vanished all the desks and conjured target dummies for each of the students, and had them work through the spells that they had learned the previous years. Harry noticed that though the students had a firm grasp of the spell work, their accuracy was lacking. Again he would walk behind the firing line, correcting and giving pointers to the students.

"OK class," Harry would say at the end of each class period. "We are going to work on aim throughout the year, as knowing a spell is only helpful when you can hit what you're aiming at." The class chuckled at the small joke.

The routine only deviated with the Seventh Year class, which coincidently was his last class of the week on Friday afternoon. Standing in the back corner under a heavy disillusionment charm, Harry watched as the group of Seventh Year students filed in and took their seats in the semi-circle desk rows. This class was his largest class, as it was his only Seventh Year class, and when the last student had walked in and the bell had rung, the students began to look around the classroom, their eyes searching for their missing professor. Drawing his wand, Harry took aim at one of the students and fired a silent stinging hex at his back, producing a cry of surprise from the student. Immediately, half of the students had their wands drawn and pointing at random directions of the room as the students looked for the assailant. "Constant Vigilance," Harry said out loud, canceling his charm, and he had to immediately raise a shield as a stunner was shot at him from the tall brunette in the front row.

"Good reflexes Miss Marie," Harry complimented, recognizing the Head Girl from Gabrielle's disruption. "One of the best fighters I ever knew, and the author of the book we will be using, would be proud. 'Stun first and ask questions later' was his policy. He also had a policy of 'Constant Vigilance', since no one is going to ask if you are ready before they attack you." Harry walked to the front of his desk and stood in front of the students. "Now granted, he took it to extremes and never ate or drank anything that he didn't make himself or see made, but you should always be aware of your surroundings." Harry took out the class register and took role, again trying to memorize faces and names. "I understand that everyone in this class has done well in previous years, but from what I've seen from my predecessor's lesson, he has stuck to mostly dueling scenarios correct?" Harry received a round of nods from the class. "Good, learning to duel is important for building your skills, but in my opinion, it is not the point of this class. The point of this class is to teach you to fight and survive. In a duel, there are rules that each competitor must follow, plus a long list of customs that are followed almost as strictly as rules. The only rule you have to follow in a fight is to do what you need to to survive; and that means if you have to apparate away, you apparate away." A tall brown haired student raised his hand in the second row. "Yes Mister Vitoli?" Harry called.

"But running away is for cowards," the boy declared in a heavy Italian accent causing Harry to smile at the boy's Gryffindor tendencies.

"Perhaps it is, but if you are going to die, what good is courage then? Oh, there are times where running away is not an option, and you have to stand and fight, but then you do whatever you have to in order to make sure you survive." Another hand was raised. This time it was a blond haired boy sitting next to the Head Girl. "Mister Barden?"

"Are you suggesting that we fight to kill?" the boy asked, his voice trembling and brow furrowed.

"No Mister Barden, I am saying that your main goal is to survive. There are times where you cannot afford to stun your attackers, and you will need to adjust your tactics to the necessary level. How many of you are planning on applying for the Aurors next year?" he asked the class, causing two thirds of the class to raise their hands, including both Head Students. "This will be covered in greater detail in your Auror training; they call it Rules of Engagement, I believe. In this class, we will focus on assessing a situation, and adapting your spells in order to help you survive. We will be dueling in this class, but many of the dueling rules will not apply. The only rules will be nothing that can seriously harm, and nothing Dark. I expect everything to be done silently and with as little wand movement as possible. We will be working on speed and accuracy throughout the year, and introducing spell chaining, any questions?"

Seeing none, he gave a sharp nod. "Good, now we are going to have a little tournament for the rest of the class. I have already made up a random bracket for the first one. This will be a normal occurrence on the first lesson of the month, and the following brackets will be based on your finishing place in the previous duel." Waving his wand at the board, he made the bracket appear. "Ok, first up, we have Mister Barden versus Mister Vitoli." The named students stood up and came to the front of the classroom. "Remember what I said, no using spells that seriously harm, or dark. The duel will end when one can no longer continue. I want you to be creative in these in both your defense and your offense." Harry cast a protective shield over the combatants and began the duel.

The first duel was rather boring as both students stood there firing spells at each other relying on shields and only a minimum of dodging. It quickly became apparent that Pierre Barden had earned his place at top of the class. His spells were not only varied, but accurate, quick, and powerful. The Duel was over in a few minutes with a stunned Vitoli being revived by Harry. "Good work you two, Miss Marie and Mister Tourin, you're up." The duels continued throughout the double period with Claire Marie and Pierre Barden facing off in the final round.

The Duel was fast and fierce, both top students fighting for bragging rights. Gabrielle had informed Harr y that these two students, though dating, had been fighting back and forth for the top spot since first year. They had taken all the same classes and while Barden did slightly worse in Runes, he made up for it Defense while it was the other way around for Marie. The duel had gone on for close to ten minutes, and both combatants were starting to noticeably tire. Their spells were no longer as fast, and their shields were weakening quicker. It was at the twelve minute mark that Claire managed to slip a stunner past her boyfriend's shield, stunning him and ending the duel. The class applauded as Harry revived the stunned Head Boy.

"Very good work everyone," he said to the class. Reaching into his desk he drew out two bars of chocolate and gave the larger of the two to Clair and the smaller one to Pierre. "For homework, I would like a foot and a half on two spells that you learned this week from another class, and how they can be applied to fighting. Also, if you notice, you are all quite tired both physically and magically. Endurance can play an important part of surviving in a fight, as dodging spells and not relying on shields is a good way for you to conserve magic while also forcing your opponent to tire. With that in mind, physical condition is paramount; and starting Monday, I will be running around the grounds in the morning, and I invite anyone who wants to join me to come. This is not required, but for those who are planning on entering the Aurors next year, you should really consider it." The bell rang and the students trudged out the door, all seeming to drag their feet.

"What did you do to them to make them so tired?" a voice said from his door when the last student had filed out.

Harry looked up, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile at the sight of Gabrielle. "Why hello Professor Delacour," Harry greeted. "I had a little dueling tournament, and most of them do not have a lot of endurance yet."

"I see that," she replied, moving into the classroom and taking a seat on the top of the desk, leaning back slightly. "It is a good thing that this is their last class of the week, or you would be getting complaints for sure Professor Potter." Harry smiled and leaned against the desk next to his friend. The last week had been wonderful for Harry. He was quite enjoying teaching and found that, to his surprise but no one else's, that he seemed to be good at it. Not only that, but he felt more at home at Beauxbatons than he ever did at Hogwarts. Perhaps it was because of the lack of whispers and looks, ranging from frightened to awe, that followed him around during his years at Hogwarts; or the warm reception he received from his fellow professors, who all treated him if not kindly, at least professionally; in reality, Harry knew it was because of the woman leaning against his desk.

Gabrielle and he had spent numerus hours together since the school term began, either grading papers together, watching Victoria while Bill and Fleur were busy, going to Harry's therapy, or just walking around the grounds. The vivacious Veela had listened as Harry told about his life, telling her things he had never told anyone before. During his therapy sessions, the Healer had even helped him bring up memories that he had long repressed, helping him work through them while Gabrielle sat and held him while he cried. He still had nightmares, but they were becoming less frequent and less intense. Over the last week, he had decided something, and after a few discreet inquires, came up with a plan.

"Professor Delacour," Harry began in a faux pompous voice. "I understand that there is a delightful little village just outside of the school, and that they have a wonderful café there. I was wondering if you would deign to accompany me tomorrow, to ascertain whether it is as good as they say?"

A large smile blossomed on Gabrielle's face, causing her eyes to sparkle. "Why Professor Potter, are you asking me on a date?"

"You know, I believe I am, say eleven o'clock?" Harry asked, hoping his nervousness wasn't showing in his face. He knew that she liked him, but he was still nervous asking her on an actual date.

"Sounds wonderful," she replied, making Harry's insides do a loop, all his nervousness forgotten, for now at least.

"Wonderful, now may I escort the prettiest Beauxbatons Professor to dinner?" An answering nod was all it took for Harry to extend his arm, and together the two made their way to dinner wearing matching smiles.


End file.
